Digital Connections
by CanadianCold
Summary: Sora sleeps peacefully as Namine puts his memories back together. Though Sora's mind and heart dream restlessly, yearning for something new...Thus Sora's heart makes a connection with the person closest to him, and he begins to live an unwaking life...
1. Dreaming

_Welcome to my second Kingdom Hearts story! Believe it or not, I've actually planned out the entire thing in advance, but I do have things to do during the day, so don't expect an update every day…likely every third day?_

_This __is__ a Roxas-Sora story, so if you don't like that…you're in the wrong place._

_And no, no random commentary between the cast this time._

_Note: This is somewhat cannon, so bear with me...!_

_**Day One**_

For Sora, an infinite amount of time could pass in mere seconds in his rest…

He slept peacefully, the hearts of those most important to him keeping him company with their kindness.

Though there were two other _hearts_ that seemed so unfamiliar, but equally important.

He squints his eyes against a light only he could see, though it fades, and he gazes around.

Sora was in a town; that was for sure. It wasn't the Islands; too commercialized.

The brunette looks around; it was clearly nearly night, the sun was setting. Though that seemed to be unimportant to those around him, who bustled about like it was the middle of the day!

Sora looks around at those who pass by him; they were dressed rather conservatively, and he felt a bit out of place in his bright yellow shoes and red shorts.

He could hear laughter from behind him as he turns to look at a tattered red flap on a small room.

"I'm telling you, I'm gonna be the Struggler champion this year!" A rather cocky voice proclaimed proudly.

"Oh Hayner, don't count your _best friend_ out." A female voice teased.

"Hehe, Hayner knows I'm no push over." An eerily familiar voice said.

Without thinking, Sora walks in, expecting it to be a dream and thus go unnoticed.

"What the…Who are you? New to town?" A dirty blonde in camouflage cargo shorts says sharply.

"Easy, Hayner…" A black haired larger boy says.

Sora blinks: "Oh, I'm Sora. Sorry, I was just curious who would be under train tracks…" He says as he looks up to the tracks above.

"Yeah well this is our turf, so go away." The dirty blonde says angrily, shooing the now confused Sora.

The girl stands, walking over to Sora: "I'm sorry for Hayner's rudeness, he's probably worried you're a friend of Seifer's." She extends a small hand: "But it's nice to meet you, Sora! I'm Olette."

Sora shakes her hand tenderly, trying not to hurt her: "It's nice to meet you."

The black haired boy jumps to a stand: "And I'm Pence! Say, those are some pretty crazy clothes you got…" He says quizzically, pulling out his camera and snapping a picture of a bemused Sora.

Finally, the quiet blonde stands: "I'm Roxas, it's good to meet you, _Sora_."

Sora says nothing, merely staring at Roxas, who had not only just said his name like they knew each other, but that he felt that they did…

"Woah…check it out, Hayner; they look a lot alike! Right down to the eyes." Pence comments.

Hayner eyes the two who stared at each other: "Their eyes –are- the same…I've never seen another person with eyes like Roxas before."

Hayner shifts his gaze to Sora: "Hey new guy, you sure you weren't born here? You might be Roxas' cousin, or something." He smirks.

Sora shakes his head: "No, I'm very sure I've never been here before in my life…"

Hayner shrugs: "Weird…say guys, weren't we gonna get ice cream and sit on the tower? We only got seven days of summer vacation left, after all."

Pence nods quickly: "Yeah! Let's go."

Hayner grins: "Alright, but if you're so eager, last person there pays for everyone!"

Olette looks at Sora: "You coming, Sora?"

"I-uh, sure! Why not?" Sora smiles.

Hayner grins: "Nice! Don't get beat, new guy! Don't wanna pay on your first day, do ya?"

Hayner breaks out into an all out run, Pence and Olette trailing behind, though Roxas stays, merely walking after.

"Not gonna run?" Sora asks him as he falls in step with Roxas.

"Nah, no real point, you know? He'll just make Pence pay anyways." The blonde chuckles.

"Poor kid. Maybe we should pay and save him the money?" Sora asks, raising a brow.

Roxas smirks: "I've tried, trust me. All it ends up in is more ice cream that Pence then pays for."

Sora smiles: "Well at least you tried." He says, patting Roxas on the back, causing a slight smile to form on the blonde's paler face.

The two reach the tower, to have a stick smack Sora in the head.

"Oww! Who threw that!" He looks around, frowning.

Hayner grins: "Lazy! Shoulda run, not walked with her majesty, queen Roxas."

Roxas rolls his eyes, saying nothing.

Pence smirks: "C'mon you two, Hayner says I'm buying."

The four friends take a seat on the edge of the tower, leaving a rather unsteady looking Sora stand.

Roxas looks back, still calm: "Don't like heights?" He asks.

"No, not like that, just feel unsafe…and like I've been here before…" He looks at Roxas, and for a mere moment sees the same boy in a black organization coat, seated next to a black haired girl who looked exactly like Kairi and a fiery red headed guy, who was seated quite casually.

Sora smacks the side of his head: "Woah, that was weird."

Roxas shrugs, extending a hand to help him down: "You get used to the unsafe feeling…eventually." He laughs.

Sora takes the hand slowly sitting down, eating the ice cream.

"So new guy—" Hayner's cut off by Olette's huff of annoyance: "His name is Sora, Hayner, don't be rude."

"Right, sorry. So Sora, where're you from?" Hayner asks, taking a bite from his sea-salt ice cream bar.

"Destiny Islands. Ever heard of them?" Sora asks, tentatively licking the ice cream. He 'hmm's in surprise, it was quite good!

Roxas grins: "It's good, right?"

Sora nods: "Yeah, the name weirded me out, but it's not half bad."

"Destiny Islands? Can't say I do." Hayner says in passing. "Have you Pence? Olette?"

The two shake their heads: "No luck there, Sora." Hayner shrugs.

Pence stands slowly, stretching: "Well, I'm beat. See you guys at the usual spot!" He says as he steps back.

Olette yawns: "Oh! Maybe I should go to. See you boys tomorrow!" She says cheerfully, patting Hayner and Roxas on the head as she walks by.

Hayner grins: "Those two are such a pair. But given the chance, they'd say that about Roxas and I." He pats Roxas on the back rather roughly, chuckling.

Roxas rolls his eyes: "So Sora, are you going to compete in the Struggle tournament?"

"Struggle tournament?" Sora repeats to himself, having no clue what it was, but his competitive side (majorly fostered by his best friend Riku) takes over: "Yeah, of course!" He says, grinning and doing a fist pump.

Hayner finishes his ice cream and flicks it down at Pence, who the three can just barely hear go "ow!"

Hayner grins: "Bullseye! Well Roxas, I'll see you tomorrow for our struggle training. Don't be late." He ruffles Roxas' hair as he walks by, leaving the two eerily similar teens sitting in silence.

"You know…I've never heard of the Destiny Islands…but it sounds so familiar, ya know?" Roxas says quietly, looking down at the far off ground.

"Actually I think I do know…Like, I almost felt like the walk here was familiar…" Sora admits, puzzled.

Roxas stands: "Hm. I should get back home for dinner. By the way, Sora, where do you live?"

Sora blinks: "I…uhm…"

Roxas smirks: "Say no more. C'mon, let's go."

Sora quirks a brow as he stands: "Where to?"

"My house. You can stay there, no explanation necessary. I took Hayner in when his parents learned about…nevermind. But trust me, it's fine." The Blonde smiles back at Sora.

Sora smiles sincerely: "Thanks, Roxas."

The two walk back to Roxas' house, where they're quickly greeted by his mother.

After a word or two between the blonde and his mother and dinner, Sora is shown to the guest bedroom.

"You can stay here for as long as you need, Sora. Roxas is very picky with who he wants to stay over, so I have no reason to question you." Roxas' mother says calmly.

"Thank you, ma'am." Sora says, giving a polite bow.

Roxas' mother smiles: "What a respectful young lad. Sleep well."

After a few moments, Sora opens the door, pacing over to the door where he saw Roxas enter. He knocks softly.

The door opens, Roxas stood there in a pair of simple shorts and a long t-shirt: "Something you need, Sora?"

Sora shakes his head: "Nah, just wanted to talk for a few, if that's okay."

Roxas nods and lets Sora in, closing the door: "What's up?"

Sora smiles slightly: "I just wanted to say thank you for letting me stay the night…I know it's hard to explain, but I can't really remember _where_ I live, if I do live here." He admits, gazing out the window.

"Totally fine. Besides, I think you'll make a nice addition to our group. Maybe you can beat Seifer in the struggle match; that'll get you in Hayner's good graces." Roxas grins.

Sora chuckles: "Will do." He smiles broadly, instinctively wrapping his arms around Roxas: "Thanks again."

Roxas blinks, then hugs Sora back: "Hehe, go to bed, you dweeb. I got struggle practice in the morning."

Sora lets him go, smiling broadly at the blonde, who smiled back.

The brunette says his goodbyes once more, before setting off back to the guest room to sleep.

_**Meanwhile…**_

Namine stood in front of the egg shaped capsule that held Sora.

She was deep inside his mind, though she was very confused.

"Sora…how did you…" She says to herself.

A deep voice sounds behind her: "How did he what, Namine?"

Namine opens her eyes, turning to see DiZ standing a distance off.

"His dreaming heart connected to his Nobody's…now he's living out Roxas' days…but not as Roxas…with Roxas. It's odd." She admits the last part after a long pause.

DiZ nods slowly: "I see. Will it hamper your repairs to his chain of memories?" The man asks.

"Yes, we don't want to hurt Roxas, but all the worlds need a champion of light, right now." A young man in an organization coat said.

Namine eyes him, mistaking him for Riku for a moment, but then recalled that Riku wasn't even here, let alone his real self.

"No Taloxus, we don't…that Nobody is special." Namine says quietly.

"Yes, like you." Taloxus responds calmly.

DiZ scoffs: "That's just conjecture. Back to work, Namine. Taloxus, go stall Axel."

Taloxus nods: "I'll do my best, sir."

DiZ walks off, saying quietly to himself: "These foolish Nobodies do not know what they are talking about…"

Namine says quietly, returning back to her work with Sora.

_And that is chapter one!_

_As always, rate, review, and any ideas for day two are welcome! Not everything's set in stone._


	2. Danger

_Ah, day two so soon! What fun. Now, I noticed the small amount of reviews, but I remain positive and hopeful that people are reading this and enjoying it._

_Last chapter, we saw the emergence of Sora into data Twilight Town, and that Namine knew his heart was somehow there, too._

_Let's read…_

_**Day Two**_

Sora woke up to the permanently setting sun in this town, though due to natural instincts, he panics, thinking it's _much_ later in the day.

"Oh man, I slept the day away!" He says to himself a she pulls on his clothes as quickly as humanly possible.

He quickly opens the door to the room he was in, and steps out into the hallway, seeing Roxas brushing his teeth in the bathroom opposite to the brunette.

Sora blinks at the blonde: "Thought it was later, didn't you?" Roxas says with a mouth full of toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Y-yeah, how late is it…?" Sora asks, logic coming to bear.

"Seven in the morning." Roxas says after spitting.

"Ah…I should've looked at a clock before rushing around." Sora admits, chuckling.

Roxas turns around, smirking: "I agree: your coat's inside out."

Sora blinks, eying the garment: "Well, I'm an idiot!" He chuckles, flipping it outside in.

Roxas rolls his eyes: "Your sleeve…"

Sora blinks, eying the wrong arm: "Nothing's wrong with it."

Roxas says nothing, merely steps up and unfolds Sora's sleeve. "Now, I need to meet up with Hayner for practice; the Struggle Tournament is in two days, and we can't get lazy now." The blonde reasons calmly.

"Struggle…what exactly is that?" Sora asks as they walk down stairs to the main floor.

Roxas eyes him like he was mad: "You really –aren't- from around here. Struggle is a tournament in which you beat the living daylights out of each other until one person no longer has the energy to continue. You use a nonlethal weapon, so it's really fun."

"Oh I see! Maybe I should try…" Sora grins.

Roxas chuckles: "I don't know…it takes a while to pick up, but you look pretty fit, you'll do fine, _probably_." Roxas grins slyly.

Sora chuckles somewhat nervously: "Hehe, thanks, Roxas."

Roxas opens the door: "C'mon, let's take my boards; Hayner's a cool guy, but really impatient." The blonde offers Sora a blue and red (like his current clothing) skateboard, while he himself takes a black and white checkered one.

Sora blinks, he'd never ridden a skateboard…He steps up onto it, finding his balance after a moment. After all, it's not like a wielder of the keyblade is especially clumsy!

Although Sora was learning the tricks of riding a skateboard, Roxas rode ahead expertly, grinding his board against a rail while he went down a ramp, and very smoothly performed a 360 in mid air.

"Damn, Roxas! You're awesome at that!" Sora calls out as he watches the blonde have a little fun.

"Thanks! I've been at it for a while, but Hayner's still better." Roxas says, grinning.

Sora scoffs: "No one could do that better than what you just did!" He gives Roxas an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Roxas doesn't say anything, just chuckles slightly, and smiles.

"Hey! Quit showin' off, you know I taught you all that." Hayner says as he speeds by on his own board to the train station entrance.

Roxas rolls his eyes, and finally screeches to a halt before the train station with Sora arriving shortly thereafter.

"You brought the new kid?" Hayner asks Roxas.

"Yeah, said he wanted to try Struggling." Roxas looks back to Sora.

"Alright, let's show him how it's done, Roxas." Hayner grins, tossing the blonde a struggle bat.

"Right, give me a minute, first. We should warm up, after all." Roxas smirks.

Sora's eyes wander to the tower that stood high above them, before his mind flashed until it was like he was sitting there:

"_Roxas…are you really sure that you don't have a heart?" He looks to his right, seeing a red headed young man in a full length black leather coat._

"_I don't know…I can't just…look inside. But I figure…if there is something in there- inside us- then we'd feel it, wouldn't we?" Roxas says…though he felt his mouth move…as if he said it. _

((To those who are curious, that is from the starting of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days))

"A boy, newly aware of himself. His _light_ shines as bright and brief as the setting sun." Sora mumbles to himself, then blinks, smacking the side of his head: "Where did that come from…?" He says to himself.

"Everything alright there, new guy?" Hayner asks him, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, just fine…just a weird thought." Sora smiles, throwing his arms behind his head casually.

Hayner chuckles: "Not going all soft on Roxas now, I hope!" The taller teen says, grinning.

Sora blinks, then shakes his head: "C'mon, we _just_ met yesterday! And that'd be so weird."

Roxas nods: "Yeah…weird."

_Later that morning_

"So, the beach it is! But we'll need money. Everyone! Scatter and do some odd jobs, let's get this done." Hayner said confidently.

Sora looked at the four, feeling a little out of place; he missed Kairi and Riku terribly…

After they had split up, Roxas walks over to the brunette, and says quietly: "Everything alright? You're oddly quiet."

Sora looks up from his shoes: "Yeah I'm alright…I miss my friends, is all." He admits, looking away from the blonde's gaze.

Roxas smiles a little: "I'm sure they'd be touched to hear you care about them so much, but you can't just give up because they're not here: you all rely on each other, right?" Roxas asks gently.

"Well, yeah, like you guys." Sora explains.

"Then you should be extra strong, because right now they're without you as someone to lean on." Roxas nods firmly.

Sora meets Roxas' gaze: "Roxas…you're a genius! Riku and Kairi wouldn't want me being all mopey. So Roxas, need a hand?"

"Sure, if you're willing." The blonde responded.

_Meanwhile…_

"DiZ, what is going on?" The cloaked figure asks.

"Namine let Sora's heart into the digital Twilight Town." DiZ says flatly.

"I see…will this interfere with our plans?" The cloaked figure questions calmly.

"It most certainly will. We must force Sora's heart out of the data town." DiZ says firmly.

"What did you have in mind?" The cloaked figure smirks under his cowl.

"You shall see…" DiZ responds, smirking under his crimson bandaging.

Meanwhile, another blacked cloaked figure leans against the door, scowling, and mutters to himself "I have to tell Namine.."

_Back in the digital Twilight Town_

Roxas raced up and down the streets of Twilight Town on his skateboard, deftly whipping letters at their recipients (or victims, depending on whom you ask). He finished his round, collecting the meagre 60 munny, and continued on to the Station Plaza, and looked for Sora.

The blonde teen gets off his board and looks around curiously.

'_Where is he? He said he wanted to try sea salt ice cream…' _he looked around, annoyed.

Meanwhile, Sora was having a much more confusing time of things.

"You are not meant to be here, keyblade master." The deep voice echoed from seemingly nowhere.

"Who says!" The brunette counters, summoning his keyblade.

"Sora. We are not enemies. Release yourself from this place; many worlds require your aid." The voice half demanded, half reasoned.

"Then I'll start with this one!" Sora shouted into thin air.

"We shall see about that, wielder of the keyblade." The voice said, before the ground in front of Sora became black and viscous. A massive dusk-like creature rose from the ground, looming over Sora.

The massive dusk swung a huge fist down, causing Sora to roll quickly out of the way.

"I could really use a hand, here…" He says to himself as he hacks at the dusk with little effect.

Sora blinks as his keyblade shines with a brilliant light, and a voice resonates through his head: "_it's my goodluck charm, bring it back, alright?_"

Sora grins: "Oathkeeper!" He calls out as he summons the aforementioned keyblade, which deals a crippling blow to the creature's massive head.

Sora stares down to his left hand for a moment, a voice, more distant and yet…familiar echoes in his head: "_I guess my summer vacation is…over…_"

Sora's heart catches in his throat, and he chokes down the unexplainable sadness, and beckons to his left hand: "Oblivion!"

A black shadow engulfs his hand and extends to a few feet away, which coalesces into Oblivion, shining dimly in the twilight.

The dusk beast rears back, surprised, but soon charges at him with renewed vigour.

Sora runs straight into it and without even thinking, shouts emotionally: "For Kairi! For Roxas!" As he cleaves the two keyblades deep into the monster's chest, rending it mortally and running up the beast's chest.

The dusk beast collapses onto its face, and slowly dissipates, the deep voice saying in the distance: "You are only harming those who you hold closest, Sora…"

Sora looks down to the two keyblades in awe; he had never summoned _two_ before…it was like Kairi and Roxas were fighting alongside him.

…Wait.

Why was Roxas connected to oblivion?

Sora blinks, then realizes he was terribly late to hang out with Roxas! He yelps, and runs off for tram common.

A few minutes later, he arrives upon a very confused looking Roxas.

"Roxas! I'm sorry!" He says breathlessly as he stops in front of the blonde.

Roxas doesn't respond for a moment, he simply stares at his left hand: "…It's alright…I'm really sure you had better things to do…" He says, clenching his left hand around an imaginary sword of some sort.

Sora stands, leaning in: "Everything arlight, Roxas?"

Roxas blinks, snapping out of it: "What-? Oh, yeah. Sorry, still up for ice cream?" He asks the brunette who nods: "Totally!"

The blonde grins, and walks with Sora up to the top of the tower.

Sora tentatively takes a seat on the edge, and Roxas extends an ice cream bar.

"Thank you." Sora says chipperly as he takes it.

Roxas chuckles: "Oh what a gentleman! You've captured my heart, Sora!"

Sora laughs: "Very funny."

Roxas looks off into the distance at the setting sun: "You know, I'm glad I met you, Sora."

Sora looks over, offering a smile: "Back at ya, Roxas."

Although, internally, Sora frowns, thinking to himself '_what was that thing…? Why did Roxas' memory help me summon Oblivion…'_

Roxas frowns as the silence engulfs them…before Sora arrived, he could've sworn he saw a massive…thing…in front of him…and he was fighting it, no less.

_Meanwhile…_

The shorter hooded figure walks into the chamber of waking and over towards Namine, who stood next to the capsule that housed the sleeping Sora.

His gaze meets that of the blonde's, noticing her worried look, he speaks: "Namine, what's happened?"

"DiZ sent a gigantic data-dusk at Sora, to push his conscious mind…and by proxy his heart…out of Twilight Town." She explains, placing a hand empathetically on the flower like structure.

The hooded figure pulls back his hood; long black bangs covered half his face, much akin to Zexion. " I see…what did you do about it?" Taloxus asks.

"That's the strange thing…I didn't do anything…Roxas and Sora's hearts joined for a moment, and Roxas leant his strength to Sora, to help him defeat the giant dusk." Namine says looking at where Sora likely was.

"Roxas' _heart_? Surely you misspoke." Taloxus blinks, somewhat confused.

"I meant what I said. Roxas _has_ a heart. And not a part of Sora's heart, it's his own heart." Namine says firmly, then says quietly: "And so do I…"

Taloxus forces a smirk: "I'm not surprised; when you showed me what happened when Roxas lost Xion, there was no doubt those tears he wept were genuine, and not forced for some random reasoning. And with you, you _felt_ lonely. You **felt** that."

Taloxus gives a firm nod: "Keep me informed, Namine."

She smiles: "Thanks for listening."

He keeps walking, offering a slight wave of acknowledgement.

"It doesn't matter what happens…Sora will forget Roxas…everyone will forget Roxas in time…" Namine says to herself, her voice broken for her fellow nobody.

Namine sits on the cold, sterile floor, leaning against Sora's pod, and feels a few tears fall for the pain that she had to inflict on both of them…all for the sake of all worlds…

Sora and Roxas both grew silent once more in Twilight Town, each teen equally overcome with emotion for just a brief second.

_And that's the end of chapter two!_

_I apologises repeatedly for how long this took to make, but I was very busy with school, but you guys understand that, hehe._

_Stay tuned for Day Three! If you recall from the game, Roxas goes head to head with the exact same dusk that Sora fought…_


	3. Knowledge

_Chapter three… HAS ARRIVED!_

_Yes, I have regained my love for this story, and it is time for the show to go on!_

Roxas awoke slowly that morning, before feeling eyes on him. With a sharp jolt, he looked to the corner of the room, but saw nothing…

"Huh…?"

He shook his head, and got dressed. He eyed his clothes closely, they felt… wrong, somehow, like they weren't what he should be wearing.

"What should I be wearing, then…?" He spoke quizzically to himself.

An amused voice spoke from the doorway, causing the blonde to jump halfway to the ceiling:

"You _could_ go naked, but I don't think the general populace would approve."

Sora leaned against the doorframe casually, a bright smile on his tanned face.

"So, what's on the agenda today, Mr. Blonde and talking to himself?" He snickered lightly, Roxas frowning in embarrassment.

"Well, I was gonna meet up with Pence and Olette, see what's up. Wanna come?" Roxas offered a smirk at Sora, who remained barring his exit from his room.

"That sounds fun, but I think I'm going to practice for the Struggle tournament a little more first. See you under the train tracks?" Sora stood straight, identical eyes meeting Roxas'.

"Sure, sounds fun. See you then, Sora." Roxas said calmly, even though the previous events of his waking still troubled his mind deeply.

_Meanwhile…_

"Why do you want to meet him? Do you know how dangerous that is?" Taloxus' brow furrowed deeply at Namine's peculiar request.

"Because I feel so close to him… like a brother that needs my help." Namine explained earnestly.

"You do realize that this will mean I'll have to not only stall Sora, but stop all of Twilight Town from interrupting you, right?" The black cloaked Nobody inquired, irritated.

"I do, Taloxus. Please, will you help me? It's for their own good." Namine gave a pleading look to her fellow Nobody.

"Eugh… Alright. I'll do what I can, but don't take too long, okay? I'm not exactly the most powerful Nobody out there. I'm no Roxas." He offered a forced grin to the blonde girl.

"Okay, are you ready?" Namine stepped onto the platform next to the computer console Taloxus sat at.

"Ready as I'll ever be. In three, two…"

Roxas walked down the ramp slowly, seeing Pence and Olette walking up the other ramp, he smiled a little, atleast his friends weren't acting strange.

"Morning." Olette greeted the blonde politely, Pence offering a typical goofy smile.

However, before Roxas could respond, they froze in their tracks, completely still!

He instantly bolted forward, however a small teenager girl barred his path. Her very person emanated a calming and soothing aura; blonde hair cascaded from her head down onto her chest, she wore a simple white, short dress and flip flops.

Her voice was soft and calm: "Hello, Roxas."

Roxas stood on the spot, averting her eerily familiar gaze. "Uh… Hi." After a painfully awkward silence, he spoke once more "And you are—"

However, the girl raised a hand, indicating him to stop talking. She spoke cheerfully; "I wanted to meet you, atleast once."

"Me?" He blinked, this girl was _very_ strange!

"Yes, you." She nodded, lacing her fingers together in front of her.

With that, she smiled an earnest and very heartwarming smile, before pacing off in the opposite direction.

"Olette dragged me along to go shopping." Pence groaned, though everyone knew he enjoyed shopping with the chipper brunette.

Olette leanded forward, fully aware that Roxas would never want to, and with a large grin, said "Hey, you wanna go with us?"

"Hey… uh… did you see that?" Roxas practically looked straight through them, totally oblivious to their commentary.

"He's stalling." Pence scoffed slightly.

"Okay, we'll see you later, Roxas." Olette smiled, giving a quick nod, and turned to walk the direction the strange blonde girl had gone.

Sometime after, once his nerves had calmed, Roxas found himself at the mansion's outer gardens.

He looked around, though an oddly familiar black mass of a portal opened in front of him; three feather weight creatures swooping out, one attempting to grab the teen.

"Lemme go!" He shouted, before bolting off in the opposite direction

His lungs burned as fear made his palms clammy and heart pound even more than it already was.

Something in his very being screamed for him to run.

After what seemed like an eternity, he saw Seifer and his gang, the former offering an impolite greeting, though was cut off thusly by Roxas' attackers.

They tried to fight the creatures, but due to the harmless nature of a Struggle bat, they were quickly outmatched.

The entities circled Seifer's gang quickly, never quite touching the ground.

Though once more, Seifer's gang froze in place, and the creatures launched at Roxas!

From up high, he heard a feminine voice cry out: "Roxas! Use the keyblade!"

He looked up to the source of the voice, to see the same blonde girl.

As the creatures barrelled towards Roxas, he instinctively drew his arms up to protect himself.

When they reached him, everything went black…

_Meanwhile…_

As Roxas drew his arms up, Sora's body suddenly felt incredibly fatigued and weary.

He stumbled forward, a few onlookers giving puzzled looks.

He staggered into a nearby alley, taking a seat on one of the stacked boxes.

His head was spinning, but slowly the fatigue and vertigo left him, the strange feelings only to be replaced by confusion, and a compulsive longing to see Roxas.

"Roxas…" He mumbled, standing once more.

"No." A cold voice said from behind him, causing the brunette to turn sharply on his heel.

A young man dressed in a black cloak stood before Sora, hood drawn to hide his face.

"Who are you? What do you want? Did you do this to me!" Sora demanded angrily.

"I am… Taloxus. A friend of a friend, if you will. I'm here to help you. No, I did not. You did that to yourself." He answered each question flatly.

"Sora. You must trust me, I am not your enemy." He continued, re

moving his hood. Black hair fell over half his face, an amber eye shining dully. "You must tell me… how did you get here?"

"I… I don't know. Why are you asking me?" Sora inquired, this was all incredibly strange to him.

"Because both you and Roxas are in great danger because of your presence. My associate, she is deeply concerned for you both." The hooded male said with honesty in his cold voice.

"Your associate?" Sora asked, even more confused.

"I cannot explain. Do not do anything to endanger yourself or Roxas." Taloxus spoke sternly, before a murky portal opened behind him, and swallowed him up as he stepped back, leaving an incredibly confused Sora in his wake.

"… I need to see Roxas." He said firmly.

Roxas stood in a vast expanse of nothingness. All around him was black, no stars, no sun, nothing.

He stood on a strange platform, but what shocked him more was it depicted a sleeping Sora, holding a strange key-like weapon, along with smaller panes of glass depicting others; a dog like guard, a duck like magister, a red headed girl, and a silver headed teen.

"Goofy… Donald, Kairi… and Riku…" He recited foreign names as if he had spoken them his whole life.

However, time was not on his side, as three weapons appeared before him, as if asking him to chose one.

To his left was a staff, in the centre a sword, and on the right, a shield.

Instinctively, Roxas picked up the sword, which quickly transformed into the weapon that the sleeping Sora below him held.

"Keyblade…" He spoke to himself.

As he spoke the word, more of those paper-like creatures appeared from the black abyss around him.

He charged forward, suddenly emboldened with righteous fury: "Light, give me strength!"

Slash after slash, the strange monsters, to which the term Nobody seemed to fit so well, fell before him, disappearing into nothingness.

He panted deeply, before turning to see a set of double doors on the far side of the platform. With hesitation, he stepped through the doors, and found himself on another pane.

However, a great rumbling sounded below, and vast tentacles shot out from below the platform, flying high into the black abyss.

The platform heaved and surged, before bowing beyond recompense and shattered.

Roxas tumbled down, letting off a shocked cry, before he felt someone grab his hand, as if catching him.

"Ready, Sora?" The voice of a cocky teenager spoke.

Roxas looked up, first seeing a silver haired teen, then a fiery redhead in a black cloak.

"Don't worry, Sora." A female voice spoke. Now, a small red haired girl had a hand on his shoulder, smiling softly.

Though she too was replaced with the image of an incredibly similar girl with black hair in a black cloak.

His body surged with power, and he was launched high into the air above the massive Nobody, before turning over, and launching himself headfirst at his foe.

"For Riku! For Axel! For Kairi! For Xion! For Sora!" He shouted as he hacked away at the tentacles which assaulted him mercilessly.

A jagged tentacle ripped at his side, clothes tearing and blood seeping out steadily. He cried out, but continued his assault without repose.

He continued his downward assault, before reaching the monster's head. With a grunt of pain as the Nobody bit down on his leg, he slide the keyblade through its face, and with a resounding cry of agony, the beast shuddered, and fell from its lofty height, into the dark abyss, dragging Roxas with it.

Minutes passed as they fell, the Nobody all but gone, but leaving Roxas in the overwhelming darkness.

Finally, he slowed to a stop, but the blackness around him continued to encroach, practically trying to dissolve him.

"This is where you belong, Roxas…" A cold voice spoke from nowhere. "It is your final resting place. Leave the rest… to Sora."

"No! I can help him! Let me try!" Roxas shouted back desperately.

"Very well… You have four more days to set things right." The voice responded, before Roxas' eyes fell closed, and darkness took him.

Sora had looked all over the town, and finally found himself at Roxas' house. He didn't see Roxas' parents, nor the blonde, so he decided to check the blonde's room.

On Roxas' bed, a bloodied and weak Roxas layed.

"Roxas!" Sora shouted, bolting to his side. "Roxas, what happened!"

"Have to… fix things…" Roxas mumbled, his eyes clenched in pain.

Sora instinctively grabbed Roxas hand, squeezing it tight. "Roxas!" He said urgently once more.

Roxas groaned weakly: "Sora…" before rolling over, and wrapping his arms around the brunette in his sleep, holding him like a skinny teddy bear.

Sora propped himself against Roxas' headboard, letting the injured blonde sleep off his woes.

Time passed, and after dressing Roxas' wounds, the blonde looked somewhat better, but he was certainly out for the count.

"The tournament's tomorrow… And I need to figure out what this… Taloxus and his associate want… Is this world not like the others? Is this even a world? Riku, I could sure use your help right now…" Sora hmmed to himself, still deeply puzzled.

As the night stretched on, Roxas still clinged to Sora in his sleep, and slowly but surely, sleep too took Sora.

_A short chapter, but interesting nonetheless!_

_The chapters will get less canon as time goes on, so don't get too mad at me, please! :D_

_As always, review and comment!_


	4. Unrest

_Day Four is here… on the same day I wrote Day Three! So technically isn't it still day three… but then again…_

_Okay, I'm confused._

_Less canon fun times! On with the show!_

Roxas woke up cramped and sore, but oddly energized.

He looked to his right, to see Sora laying in his bed. The blonde had to admit, Sora was a goodlooking young man, especially when he was actually relaxed and not jumping off the walls like always.

He layed a hand on Sora's spikey hair, ruffling it gently, while smiling nostalgically.

He was really enjoying the appearance of this oddly similar person; he was kindhearted, but strong and reliable.

"The tournament…!" He said in a hushed whisper to himself.

With a quick change into his clothes, he bolted out the door, and towards the tournament, entirely unaware that the wounds he had sustained were all but gone.

"Must we watch this, Namine?" Axel asked boredly.

"Yes, Axel. You have to be able to convince Roxas of the truth. But not until the moment is right. Understand?" Namine looked over at the fiery redhead, who leaned on the edge of the building they stood on.

"Hey, you. Think this is wise?" Axel looked over at his fellow Nobody, Taloxus.

"Not even slightly, number eight." The other responded.

"It's Axel, got it memorized?" Axel smirked, fully aware that Taloxus loathed his saying.

"Just be quiet and do your part. I'm exhausted enough from having to stop this digital world so many times for you people." The Nobody responded with a touch of irritability.

Below, the tournament raged on, Fifi was ungodly powerful, however by no feat of her own.

"C'mon Hayner!" Roxas shouted from the sidelines.

Hayner was knocked back one more time, the air being knocked from his lungs.

With a solid thunk, he landed on his back hard, groaning.

The crowd let off a gasp of shock, no one had expected Hayner to _lose_!

Hayner groaned weakly, sputtering out incoherently, "This just… ain't possible…" With that, he let his head fall back and shut his eyes.

The announcer watched the fallen Hayner, before shouting out: "Fifi is the winner! Next up, Fifi versus Roxas!"

Roxas took a deep breath, this wasn't going to be good.

Though, as he went to walk forward, a voice permeated his mind with conviction: "_Roxas, you're gonna do great._" He blinked, looking around, that was Sora!

He looked back at Pence and Olette, the former giving him a grin and a thumbs up, the latter smiling confidently and saying "Good luck, Roxas."

"Thanks." He smiled back.

As Roxas strode up towards the ring, Axel grinned wickedly.

"Are you ready, Axel?" Namine asked the redhead.

"I was born ready. Roxas and I will stop the Organization, I just know it." Axel nodded firmly.

"Do not be too rash, number eight. He may still not remember you, his mind is about halfway merged with Sora's." Taloxus said, still watching the data Twilight Town below them.

"Yes… Roxas… we're doing our best." Namine sighed, looking away. She was all too aware of DiZ's plans.

"And… fight!" The announcer shouted, quickly retreating from the stage.

Roxas readied his struggle bat, eyeing down Fifi. She was so small, what threat could she be?

With a grunt, Roxas charged the small black mage lookalike, delivering a shocking blow to Fifi's side, throwing her to the side.

Though the smaller Fifi was not slowed, she launched with fury at Roxas, offering an incredibly painful blow to Roxas' midsection. The blonde grunted in pain, his knees becoming weak.

Fifi didn't relent, swinging to the side and taking Roxas out at the knees, sending him tumbling to the ground.

He rolled away, coughing, watching without comprehension as Fifi continued her assault.

"I… tried…" He grunted.

"Roxas! Get up! It's not over until it's over!" Roxas looked over to see Sora leaning on the side of the ring.

Roxas blinked… Why was Sora so familiar? Why did he always feel so connected to Sora? Who _was_ Sora?

Though, his contemplations were broken as he heard light footsteps.

Locking eyes with Sora, he nodded: "Right." He said firmly, and jumped into the air, delivering a crushing blow to Fifi's jaw, sending her flying into the air.

"I don't know what's wrong, Fifi, but if I don't beat it out of you, Seifer will!" He called out.

Fifi dropped to the ground, but rolled to the side, going for Roxas' groin.

Roxas smirked, "Not happening!" He parried, once more sending Fifi into the air.

"Come on Roxas! You can do it!" He looked back, Hayner was slumped over Pence's shoulder.

Roxas gave his friend a firm thumbs up, before spinning backwards, an oddly familiar word echoing through his mind as he lunged at Fifi:

"_Oblivion!_" Sora's voice echoed through Roxas' mind.

With that, everyone around them, the entire world around Roxas… froze.

He looked around, alarmed: "What the hell?" He was clearly getting fed up with this.

"Is it you again, miss?" He looked around for the blonde girl.

"Not exactly, Roxas." A cocky voice sounded from around him.

Roxas' sight snapped forward onto the now shimmering form of Fifi.

The little mage's form became unrecognizable in a shimmering form of black and purple.

From this shimmering pool a portal emerged, and from it emerged a slim figure, cloaked in a black floor length coat. Fiery red hair was spiked backwards, and tear drop tattoos were suspended under his eyes.

The redhead grinned, "Roxas alright. Fight, fight, fight!"

Roxas blinked, staring blankly at the man. Who was he? How did he know his name?

The redhead blinked, sighing. "You really don't remember. It's me? You know, Axel?"

Roxas continued staring at the stranger "… Axel?"

Axel shook his head, "Talk about blank with a capital B. Man, oh man. Not even the dusks are gonna crack this one." With the flick of his wrists, two chakrams appeared in his hands, slung in his long fingers.

Roxas grimaced, "Wait a sec. Tell me what's going on!"

Axel eyed Roxas flatly, "This town is His creation, right? Which means we don't have time for a Q and A. You're come with me, conscious or not. THEN you'll hear the story."

Roxas' eyes narrowed, and held out his hand instinctively, the strange weapon he instinctively knew as the keyblade appeared in his grip.

As instantly as the weapon was in his hand, he felt that familiar kinship with the strange boy who had so randomly appeared in his life; Sora. Foreign panic raced through Roxas' mind, and he threw the weapon away, though it reappeared once more in his hand.

Axel grinned wickedly: "Number thirteen, Roxas. The KeyBlade's Chosen One!"

Sora was walking through town when everything became still around him…

"What's going on?" He demanded to nobody in particular. Near instantly a sense of longing dragged on his heart. His voice caught in his throat as an immense wave of unknown emotion hit him like a wall. "R-Roxas…" His heart sank for the blonde he just met for no discernible reason.

"Yes, Roxas. The one who drags on your heart. Weakens you, like a sickness." A dark voice resonated behind Sora.

Sora spun on his heel sharply, trying to draw on his KeyBlade, but no matter how hard he tried, his weapon would not come to him!

"You see? He even steals your KeyBlade." The strange man also donned a black coat, though he removed his hood, the dark visage of Ansem staring hollowly at Sora.

"Ansem! The Seeker of Darkness…" Sora said, fists clenched in rage. "You took Kairi from me! Riku! My life! My friends! My family! How are you still alive?" His voice cracked and piqued, tears rolling down his face.

"Calm yourself, I am Ansem… though I am also not. All things will be revealed… in due time." Ansem said oddly calmly. "All you must know is that Roxas _must_ be destroyed for you to return to your world."

"I can't—no, I won't trust you! You're a liar! A fraud!" Sora breathed in and out deeply.

"It is for your own good!" Ansem stressed.

"No! Fire!" Sora raised his hands high into the air, a pillar of molten fire exploding around Ansem.

"Very well, Sora…" Ansem spoke oddly calmly from behind the inferno.

As the fires dissipated, Ansem was gone.

"It's for the best… Stay where you belong; in the past." Sora grumbled.

"Roxas!" He blinked, turning sharply on his heel, and bolting forward.

Axel grimaced: "I don't want to do this, Roxas!"

"For the last time, I don't know you!" Roxas shouted back.

"Enough!"

The voice boomed through the frozen courtyard. A figure emerged in a foreign datastream, he wore red bandages around his face, along with a crimson cloak and a black tunic.

"Roxas! This man speaks nonsense!" The man's deep voice sounded in a dignified voice.

"Oh, so you _did_ do this!" Axel snarled angrily, hurling his chakrams at the man. Though, before they reached the crimson garbed, they smashed against an invisible wall.

"Roxas! Don't listen to him!" Axel pleaded desperately.

Roxas looked between the two, who could he believe?

"Roxas!"

"Roxas!"

"Roxas!"

"Roxas!"

Their pleas became more and more intense.

He looked down… His friends… Sora…

"Hayner! Pence! Olette! Sora!" He cried out repeatedly.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, he stood before Fifi, who fell quietly; defeated.

"Roxas is the champion!" The announcer called out.

The blonde sighed, looking around; Pence and Olette were tending to the still-bleeding Hayner.

Sora bolted up to him, his face aghast with worry: "Roxas! Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine… How about you, Sora?" Roxas blinked.

"Don't worry about me! Everything went still and then Ansem…" Sora rambled endlessly.

"It's okay. C'mon, Hayner's being taken care of by Pence and Olette, after I kick that silly man's ass in the final match, we can go home." Roxas forced a smile, though on the inside, he was still terribly worried for them all…

Sora nodded, though remained close to the blonde on the sidelines, cheering louder than them all.

Sora slouched on the couch in Roxas' living room, emotionally exhausted and physically drained from all this insanity, he leaned limply on Roxas' shoulder. The aforementioned blonde, wrapped an arm around him: "It'll be okay, Sora… This… Axel and the other man… Who are they? What do they want? Is everything not as it seems?" Roxas sighed, this was all too much.

"Sora, the keyblade. What is it? Do you know?" Roxas looked over at the brunette, who sat up.

"… How do you know about the keyblade, Roxas?" Sora inquired curiously.

"Just… please." Roxas pleaded.

"It's a weapon made by Kingdom Hearts. It opens the Door to Darkness, and the Door to Light, among the connections between the worlds." Sora explained. "The hearts you touch can power your light… I keep an oath to Kairi, and as such… I can summon—"

"Oathkeeper." Roxas finished for him.

As Roxas spoke, the keyblade Oathkeeper formed within Sora's right hand. Shock framed Sora's face.

"Then… the pain that Riku and I both hold for all the loss…" Sora eyed Oathkeeper.

"Oblivion." As Roxas spoke the very same onyx blade appeared in his left hand.

"What's going on here?" Sora eyed Roxas with new confusion.

"NO!" DiZ slammed his hand against the monitor. "It's all going wrong, all of it. Now that they've met, they're reversing the work Namine's been doing! Roxas' mind is becoming more complete, and leaving Sora's even weaker! The worlds need him! Damn the Nobody!" The crimson cloaked man fumed furiously.

"We have to destroy Roxas, DiZ. It's the only course of action that we can take. Subtlety be damned!" _Ansem_ spoke equally angrily.

"Yes. I see we are in agreement. Nobodies don't feel pain, sadness, nothing." Ansem continued slowly.

"Indeed… There's much to be planned. I don't like that our Nobodies are running rampant. We can't let this go on, either…" DiZ grumbled.

_Dun dun dun!_

_Chapter four is over!_

_As you can see, we're getting less and less canon. Next chapter shit hits the fan. And badly._

_Will Roxas and Sora be able to combat DiZ's and "Ansem's" schemes? _

_Who's truly to blame? Is DiZ truly so bad? What of Ansem, and if you know your Kingdom Hearts, there's more to this Ansem…_


	5. Twilight Town Burns

_Chapter five! I write it while listening to My Heart Will Go On. MAN, I can be such a girl, sometimes…_

_When we left off, Ansem and DiZ were plotting, and in this chapter, some of their scheming may come to fruition… But first, my favourite OC and Namine! _

_Let's read!_

_Also! Warning, this chapter is a little more graphic than most._

"Saix, what of the errant Roxas?" Xemnas spoke slowly, still staring up at the still rather small Kingdom Hearts he was creating.

"No word from Axel, Xemnas. I think it's safe to assume Axel isn't working towards our interests, at this point." Saix said with a touch of bitterness.

"That much is obvious, Saix. Very well, then. You and Xigbar, go to that fake world _Ansem the Wise_ has created…" Xemnas looked back at Saix for a moment, before returning his amber gaze to the great heart shaped moon above him.

"So, let's get this straight, Namine…" Taloxus eyed her fellow Nobody critically. "We have Axel and his dusks, DiZ and Ansem, _and now_ Xigbar and Saix to contend with?" The ebon haired Nobody seemed thoroughly frustrated, as to be expected.

"Yes, so far that's the tally. Doesn't DiZ see that, were we to allow Roxas and Sora to strike a balance in their powers, that we would have _twice_ the fighting force to stop Xemnas' perversion in making that Kingdom Hearts?" Namine sighed, this was bad, very bad.

"He's obsessed with settling the score with Xehanort for his betrayal so many years ago, Namine. I cannot blame him, all of us who were spurned by his hatred feel the remnants of lost feelings." The Nobody looked deeply at one of the many white walls around them, irritated.

Namine and Taloxus sat in one of the numerous white rooms that Namine had called home in Castle Oblivion. Her drawings covered the walls and some of the ceiling, most of them made recently, in an effort to aid Roxas and Sora finding a balance.

"If we want to help them, we need to become more involved." Taloxus met Namine's gaze once more.

"I know, but neither of them will react well to the truth, it's too risky. But soon…" Namine responded quietly.

Roxas and Sora both awoke with a pained start; a deafening explosion ripped through the night. Sirens screamed without reprieve, the screaming of people could be heard from outside Roxas' house, before the sound of metal on flesh silenced them.

"What's going on?" Sora jumped to his feet, rushing to the door in a scrambled frenzy. Roxas followed close by as Sora opened the door to his house, revealing a nightmarish version of Twilight Town; the clock tower had a massive hole in the centre of the tower, and was leaning dangerously towards the bazaar.

"It's going to fall!" Roxas shouted, his eyes filled with despair.

As they stepped into the road, terrified civilians ran past them without a second thought, Sora followed them with his eyes, before the sound of metallic boots rang out from the direction from whence the civilians had come.

Men and women, garbed in heavy armour stormed through the town, their armour was ornate and well made. Weapons were drawn; swords, great axes, daggers, bows, and crossbows.

An older woman shambled out of her house, looking frightened, though her fright quickly turned to sheer terror as one of the armoured men charged at her, with his broadsword drawn, and a smooth arc, he hacked the elderly woman's chest, sending her to the ground with a flurry of blood and choked screams.

"NO!" Sora bellowed brokenly. He held out his right hand: "Oathkeeper!" The word rung out true, and in the orange haze of the flames that now licked at the roofs of buildings, the keyblade Oathkeeper shined proud and bright.

Roxas looked over at Sora, not wasting time to ask how he could summon Oathkeeper, but instead raising his left hand into the air, eyes shaded by his hair, and called forth: "Oblivion!" A manifestation of shadows encircled his hand and flowed away from his clenched fingers, then began to coalesce into the form of the Keyblade Oblivion.

"Sora! I'll go first, cover me!" Roxas called to Sora as he charged straight into the mob of armed men and women.

"Light prevails!" He shouted gallantly, causing a massive pillar of brilliant white light to engulf the contingent of soldiers before them, before exploding outwards. When the light dissipated, all that was left was a shadowy mist hanging to scraps of armour.

"Where did you learn that!" Sora gawked at Roxas.

"I… I have no clue…" Roxas stared at Oblivion. "Oblivion normally doesn't act like that…"

From behind them, they could hear booted footsteps, and a cold voice say clearly: "I will explain later, for now, fight with me! Xemnas' pawns will fall!" The man's voice was young but wise, his lean form covered in a black leather coat, a hood drawn about his shoulder, revealing long black hair which swooped over a pale face. A longsword with the crest of the Nobodies was carved into the bottom of the blade, right above the hilt.

"Who are you?" Roxas blinked, his garb was certainly familiar, but he wasn't…

"Taloxus. Someone with something in common with you, Roxas. Now let's go! We don't have time for this nonsense, these abominations are massacring your townsfolk." Taloxus said sternly, continuing to walk quickly in the direction the soldiers had come from.

Sora gave Roxas a confused look "At the very least he knows what's going on. I say we go with him for now."

Roxas nodded: "Yeah."

With that, the two jogged up to the strange man, who seemed in no hurry whatsoever.

Axel looked around the data Twilight Town, real or not, these people were being slaughtered without remorse. For a man with supposedly no heart, even Axel was disgusted at Xemnas' madness.

He craned his head upwards, eyeing the clock tower, a heavy pain hanging to his mind. Flashes of conversations he, Roxas and Xion had on the tower flashed painfully through his mind.

"No. I will save him from the Organization. I owe him that much!" Axel grumbled to himself.

"Don't let Xemnas convince you that you're as heartless as he is, Axel… You do have a heart, and I think you just proved that." A soft voice spoke from behind Axel.

The redhead Nobody turned sharply, summoning his Chakrams to his hands, only to see Namine standing in front of him. Her small form seemed to glow with light; pale skin and blonde hair radiating the very light of Kingdom Hearts. With hands folded in front of her, she spoke once more: "I know you and I differ on what we think is best for Roxas, and in my case, Sora as well, but please… Will you help us fight back against Xemnas' soldiers?" Her voice was earnest and pleading.

Axel looked around, real or not, the sorry state _this _Twilight Town was in was hurting him, hurting his memories… hurting his _heart_. "… I will, Namine."

"Thank you, Axel. Sora, Roxas and Taloxus are going to be in the bazaar soon enough, can you meet them in time?" Namine inquired, eyes focused on Axel intently.

"Yeah, sure. But first, who _is_ that Nobody you found?" Axel asked her, it was high time he learned who this Nobody was.

"Someone much like you, he fell in the wake of Xehanort's madness. I found him when I was separated from Kairi, and since then, we've been working together to fix the worlds in our own way." Namine gave a small smile.

"I see. We can talk later." Axel nodded, and bounded onto the top of a still sturdy building, before running off into the distance.

Namine watched him go with sorrow in her eyes, "I certainly hope we can, Axel."

Roxas, Sora, and Taloxus stepped into the Bazaar; the central buildings were all but razed to the ground; they burned furiously, and the stench of burning flesh choked them without reprieve. Merchant stands had been toppled and destroyed, their owners either laying over the upturned stands, or next to them, their faces still contorted in agony.

However, the sight before them was disturbed by the arrival of yet another man in a black leather coat; Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames.

"Hey boys, mind if I lend a hand?" Axel grinned as Roxas summoned Oathkeeper once more.

"You again? Oh, perfect!" Roxas growled angrily.

"Axel! What is the meaning of this?" Taloxus demanded irritably.

"Spill it, redhead!" Sora summoned Oblivion, eyes narrowed, readied to fight at a moment's notice.

"I'm here to help; this isn't my handiwork. It's a little too dark, wouldn't you say? We need to find and stop Saix and Xigbar!" Axel explained urgently.

"We've no choice but to trust him, he knows them best." Taloxus admitted grudgingly.

Sora and Roxas grumbled in unison, and quickly exchanged a smirk. "I think he's right, in this case… It feels right…" Roxas said, puzzled.

"Right or not, we've got company!" Axel wheeled around; a massive battalion of Nobody soldiers charging towards them. He grinned wickedly; "Leave this to me..."

He hurled his chakrams to the sides of the battalion running head first at them, which began to spin around the group of soldiers, flames licking brightly off them.

Axel raised his arms into the sky: "Burn, baby!" He called out madly. Flames erupted from the circle of flames that was now created by the spinning chakrams. Steams of fire raced inside the battalion, before exploding into a blazing inferno that encompassed them all, much like how Roxas' attacked did, before.

After a minute of intense heat, the flames died away, leaving charred armour and shadow tendrils clinging weakly to them.

"… Not bad." Taloxus admitted.

"Damn straight. That jog your memory, Roxas?" Axel grinned at Taloxus, before looking back at Roxas.

Roxas shrugged: "Sort of… But that could be me just trying to remember something!" He reputed.

"… Anyways, if I know Saix, which I do quite well, he's up high, observing everything like a good tactician." Axel explained.

"You heard him… Roxas, what's the highest point in the town?" Sora looked over at the aforementioned blonde quizzically.

"The clock tower, I'd say." Roxas said quickly.

Without another word, Sora bolted in the direction of the damaged icon of the city.

Roxas blinked: "H-hey! Wait up!"

Taloxus shrugged at Axel as the two younger teens ran off recklessly, before both following them quickly.

After a few minutes of frenzied running and avoiding masses of Nobody soldiers, they had reached the base of the clock tower. Though, the pavilion that the clock tower sat on was swarming with Xemnas' soldiers, which had all noticed the oncoming four.

Sora grinned; "My turn!" he called out confidently. However, Taloxus placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him, and shaking his head.

"No, Sora. Save your strength… leave them to me." Taloxus said coolly, striding forward, Nobody longsword held loosely in his right hand.

"Darkness find you all!" He called out, his tone twisted with dark magic. Raising his sword into the air, it began to glow a dangerous looking silver hue. With inhuman speed, he charged forward, the sword tearing through countless soldiers like paper, leaving them as twisted piles of shadow-misting metal. Slice after slice, more soldiers fell with barely a moment's notice, before their comrades were also slain.

Shortly thereafter, the Nobody stepped out of the mass of soldiers, which, in unison, fell to the ground, slain. He smirked deadly, before sheathing his sword and speaking calmly once more: "Let's go."

Sora eyed the Nobody worriedly; such powers had twisted Riku beyond comprehension… wasn't this Taloxus no different? However, he pushed his worries aside and stepped into the ruined stair case that lead to the top of the leaning clock tower.

Axel lead the way, followed by Roxas, then Sora, and finally Taloxus.

Sora eyed Roxas as they climbed, the feat he had created with Oblivion was mind boggling; where did that power come from? Moreover, how could he use a keyblade? Just who was Roxas, anyways?

Though, his thoughts were interrupted as they reached the top of the clock tower. The structure leaned precariously to the side, and made it difficult to balance.

Axel looked around: "Saix! Show yourself!"

A cocky, hollow laugh sounded from around them: "Sorry kiddo, you'll just have to settle for me…"

Before them, a shadowy portal opened, and from it stepped a man, clearly a Nobody by his amber eye and dead look, he donned a coat similar to Axel and Taloxus'. An eyepatch covered his right eye, and he held to violet and black crystal guns in his hands at his sides. His grey streaked hair was held in a ponytail which fell down the small of his back.

"Axel, Roxas. It's been a long time." He grinned smugly.

"Xigbar." Axel said coldly.

"Come to rain on our parade? You were never a team player, Axel. I think I must have to kick you off the team… And this tower, mind you. But first…" Xigbar turned his attention to Sora. "No hard feelings, _keyblade master_, but I don't need to deal with you, yet. Just these Nobodies…"

Sora blinked, looking over at Roxas, refusing to give Xigbar the satisfaction of knowing his confusion. Roxas met his gaze, worry plastered on his face. Xigbar raised his right gun with unholy speed, and fired once at Sora. Though no bullet was actually seen, Sora let out a cry of shock and pain, before being thrown by the force clear off the angled tower.

"Sora!" Roxas screamed. He ran to the edge of the tower, only to see Sora's form, limp, falling towards the ground with a deadly speed.

_And that's the end of chapter five! Oh, aren't I just the worst! _

_Not to mention my total trashing of the seven day story. It just wasn't crazy enough for my tastes!_

_As always, review and comment!_


	6. Loss and Jealously

_Huzzah! I've found some time in this moving and working nonsense to write the sixth chapter._

_A few reviewers have commented on the mystery of the ally of DiZ, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness. I guess we'll just have to see what's gonna happen with that, hmm?_

_Regardless, on with the show!_

Diz watched the scene unfold with veiled intrigue. To his right, this supposed "Ansem" also watched, though was more focused on the monitor which observed the data-Sora. "Fascinating, isn't it, DiZ? How similar, yet different they truly are? As if Namine is right, and this Nobody has a heart… Perhaps a side effect of the keyblade."

"Long has it been that Yen Sid and I agreed that there has been a possibility for such things to occur…" DiZ said absent mindedly. Though, as Xigbar appeared on the tower, as he had predicted the Organization to do, he turned to Ansem.

"So Ansem. When were you going to decide to tell me that you are not who you claim to be?" A smirk curled his lips from under his wrappings.

Sora's eyes felt heavy as he fell, the rush of wind being lulled out as his consciousness shut off. His mind wondered as he seemed to fall endlessly: "_So… this is how it ends? I'll never see my friends again… Kairi… Riku… King Mickey… Goofy… Donald…" _

However, an unexpected brightness forced him to shut his eyes. Blinding white light encompassed the falling keyblade wielder, and then finally, all was dark once more.

Sora's eyelids felt incredibly heavy as he opened his eyes. A sterile, white ceiling stared impassively back at him, and a white wall was to his left. The bed he layed on was also white, and as far as he could tell, he was alone.

His mind felt slow and groggy, though after a moment, he bolted upright: "Roxas! Axel!"

A calm, feminine voice hushed him: "Everything's fine, Sora."

Sora looked over slowly, seeing a familiar face. His eyes focussed reluctantly, still blurred from the strange sleep he had gone through: "Kairi…?"

The girl chuckled: "Not quite, no. But close. I am Namine, you met my friend Taloxus, remember?" Namine explained peacefullu.

"Right… Where are we? Is everyone safe?" Sora eyed the girl as he spoke; she certainly did look similar to Kairi, though her hair was much longer, and blonde at that. She wore a simple white short dress and sandals.

Namine looked over her shoulder for a moment: "They're just fine. But I can't send you back."

"Why not?" Sora demanded, irritated. "I should be there, to help them!"

The hum of magic filled the air as his words died out, and from the opposite corner of the room opened a dark portal. From it stepped yet another cloaked figure, though this man was tall and broad shouldered.

"You already are there, Sora." His deep voice sounded.

"I know that voice…" Sora's eyes narrowed angrily, and extended his hand, summoning the keyblade in its truest form. "Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness!"

"Sora. You know _that_ Ansem is no more. I am not him, however." Ansem removed his hood, revealing the all too familiar silver hair and tanned skin.

"A likely story you'd hear from someone like you!" Sora barked out angrily.

Ansem sighed, "You were always so thick. Don't look _at_ me… Look _in _me. The keyblade will allow you."

Sora's glare deepened, though he did as Ansem suggested. The Keyblade glowed a calming golden hue, and Sora's eyes opened in shock.

"No way…"

Roxas stared at the ground far below where Sora _should have_ hit a long time ago.

"What? Did he not go splat? Well damn." Xigbar snorted derisively.

"Save it Xigbar, we got a score to settle! No one just goes and lets half of the Organization die, or tries to capture Roxas." Axel growled angrily, his chakrams aflame with his fury once more.

"So defensive. Man oh man... Whether you believe me or not is totally unimportant, but that wasn't _my_ personal doing, so calm down." The one eyed man rolled his eye, shrugging his shoulders.

Finally realizing Sora wouldn't magically reappear anytime soon, Roxas pivoted on his heel, eyes narrowed darkly at Xigbar. "What did you do with Sora?"

Xigbar shrugged once more, "That wasn't us. Or me. Not my style, at least. More like… _her's_…" He smirked as he finished his mysterious statement.

The other Nobody, Taloxus, kept his longsword at the ready: "Stop wasting time and let's do away with him. There are more important Organization members to be stopped."

Roxas smirked some, that other Nobody _did_ have a point. With that, he raised his right hand up, and left hand outwards. "Oathkeeper! Oblivion!" He shouted triumphantly. With a cacophonous mishmash of pure light and shadow intermingling, the two keyblades appeared in Roxas' hands, which he spun before him skilfully, the air being cut and responding with sharp shrieks.

Axel smirked: "That's the spirit! Burn baby!" He threw his chakrams into the air, which spun in a figure eight before him.

"Indeed. Let us, then." Taloxus spun his sword before him, low wooshes cutting at the air angrily.

Roxas was the first to moved, either powered by the despair of seeing his beloved town in such a sorry state, or the loss of his newest friend, Sora, one could not say. Regardless, with Oblivion in his right hand, he swung at Xigbar, who dodged the slash rather lazily. However, Roxas continued his onslaught with a strong left hook via the hilt of Oathkeeper to Xigbar's side.

The skinny man let out a breath of air, and Roxas launched himself backwards, guarding for any counter attack.

Axel followed Roxas' move, his chakrams flying towards the dazed Xigbar with deadly speed. The first one was largely dodged, however, cut at his shoulder deeply, and the other at his kidney.

Taloxus stepped forward quickly, black cloak billowing as he did so, and offered three brutal strikes, that were unfortunately blocked by the appearance of Xigbar's twin crystal guns.

"My turn…" Xigbar grinned darkly, his amber eye glinting dangerously. He heaved himself into the air, and to the shock of his opponents, remained suspended there. He spun his guns quickly, before raising them to the eye level of Roxas, Taloxus and Axel. The crystals clicked into place, before with a dark smirk, Xigbar fired.

Hellish crystal debris fired down onto the three below, and they quickly ran for shelter. Axel spun around one of the two remaining pillars, whereas Roxas jumped high into the air, landing on the roof and out of range.

However, the third member of their party was not so lucky. Taloxus took the brunt of Xigbar's attack, crystals wedging themselves in his flesh. He grinned wickedly as he was injured more and more, blood seeping from his grinning mouth and from his many wounds.

"What are you doing, man? Get out of there!" Axel demanded angrily.

"I'm giving you idiots an opening… Get to the old castle! RUN! Meet up with Namine, only she can end this!" Taloxus shouted, his voice cracking and choked with blood.

"Oh is that how it is, eh?" Xigbar grinned falling back to a standing place, before going to jump off the clock tower, however, Taloxus intervened.

"You're going back to Xehanort, whether you want to or not, Braig!" Taloxus hollered as he slammed himself into Xigbar, a dark portal appearing a distance away, suspended in the air.

Xigbar was thusly heaved into the portal, limbs flailing as he flew through it.

Taloxus snapped his fingers, the portal closing, before collapsing to his knees, the shadow beginning to overtake his Nobody form.

Roxas watched from the background, confused as to what he should do, though Axel rushed forward.

Taloxus gripped Axel's arm weakly, and spoke slowly. "Axel… go to Namine… it's his only hope. Do it… Now…"

Axel nodded: "Alright… Will do See you around, Taloxus."

Taloxus offered a small smile. "Hopefully not too soon, hm?"

With that, the Nobody ally of Namine's fell face foward, and dissipated completely into the shadow that Nobodies were born of.

Roxas and Axel heaved themselves off the leaning clock tower, which now groaned angrily at the damage caused to it.

Landing roughly on a roof far below, Roxas grunted hard. "Damn! I can't see past this smoke! What way is the castle?"

Axel rolled into a stop, and stood once more. "No clue. Guess we'll have to find out. Just like old times, eh?"

Roxas chuckled: "Guess so, yeah. Remember that time Xion, you, and me went to Agrabah, and we accidently dropped that pot on that old lady?"

Axel blinked: "Who's we? That was _all_ you! And WAIT, you remember now?"

Roxas let out a quiet sound of shock. "I guess I do… And you pushed me!"

"Don't even try to pull that crap, that was completely your fault." Axel scoffed, looking away quickly.

Roxas smiled, still laughing: "Or when Xion… Wait… Xion… Oh Xion…" He looked to his feet, suddenly remembering the agony of losing his closest friend that short time ago.

"Hey hey… She's not gone, she's with you, and Sora." Axel said comfortingly.

"I guess… Oh crap! Sora! We need to go to him, and Namine, now!" Roxas blinked, instinctively rushing off in the right direction.

"Scatterbrained zombie… just like old times." Axel chuckled softly to himself, nostalgia filling him.

"Riku…?" Sora blinked, seeing his lifetime friend as he was once where Ansem once was.

"Yes, Sora. This is the price of my betrayal." Riku said slowly. "Sora, you have to realize, I'm doing this to _help_ you! Your Nobody is killing you simply by existing!" He explained, his tone full of concern.

"My Nobody?" Sora blinked, he was thoroughly confused.

"Roxas!" Riku explained irritably.

Sora's eyes shot open, his jaw slackening. "No… that's impossible."

"He's telling the truth, Sora. Roxas _is_ your Nobody." Namine said quietly.

The silence that dawned then was quickly shattered by the slamming open of the doors at the other end of the room, followed quickly by Axel and Roxas bursting in, looking ragged and weary.

"Roxas!" Sora said, incredibly worried, before embracing his Nobody tightly. "I was so worried for you! What happened to Xigbar? Where's the other guy?"

Roxas impulsively held Sora close "Taloxus sent Xigbar back to the Organization's HQ, he died in the process…" He said the last part quietly. "Also… I'm your Nobody, Sora… I remember it all, now. Riku captured me and put me in the data Twilight Town, which the real Ansem created."

Sora let him go, staring at the eerily similar face that mirrored his. "I know… they just told me."

Riku gave a disgusted snort, once more being seen as Xehanort. "Enough of this, Sora! He's a shadow of you! Evil, corrupt! A pawn of Xemnas'! We have to destroy him! He's killing you!"

Roxas narrowed his eyes: "I'm not doing anything like that! We're friends!"

"Liar! You're a Nobody! All you bring is pain!" Riku shouted back.

Roxas raised his arms into the air, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion. "Be quiet, Riku! First you take Xion from me, now you try to take Sora, too? **You're** the monster!"

"You little runt!" Riku roared, rushing towards Roxas, his hellish blade appearing in his hand…

_One or two more chapters, most likely!_

_Oh this is getting crazy, isn't it. I'll do my best to make a kickass fight scene, I swear!_

_As always, review, rate and comment!_


	7. Old Wounds Revived

_So I just finished watching some of the trailers for KH3D: Dream Drop Distance. Looks like I'm buying a 3DS for myself soon! Haha!_

_Regardless, when we left off, Riku was challenging Roxas. But, unbeknownst to them, this is all the design of another more sinister force…_

_Interestingly enough, there will actually be a sequel to this story, entailing events of my own design following Kingdom Hearts II._

"Enough talk!" The Xehanort lookalike Riku shouted, charging forward at Roxas.

Roxas snarled angrily, raising his keyblades defensively. Riku's immense strength slammed down onto Oathkeeper and Oblivion with righteous and dark fury. Riku held his position, bearing all his strength down onto Roxas. The blonde's knees began to give from below him, his shoulders aching from the stress.

"I won't… let you… destroy me… like you did… Xion!" Roxas said through gritted teeth, before he began to push back.

Riku let out a surprised humph of frustration, before bearing down even harder. "I didn't destroy her! I sent her back to where she belongs! As part of Sora! Just like you do!"

"I am me! And nobody else!" Roxas barked, though was once more being pushed against the floor. With a final surge of strength, Roxas slammed Oblivion into Riku's stomach, then rolled backwards and stood once more.

Sora watched in appalled silece; he wasn't sure what to do! Should he stop them? Or should he let them continue fighting, and let them get it out of their systems? Obviously there was some bad blood, to say the least.

Riku, however, was undeterred. Roxas fought exactly like Sora did, but Roxas didn't know how Riku fought… With a dash foreward, he hacked clear towards Roxas, which the blonde obviously dodged, but was soon cut down as Riku spun his blade outward, catching Roxas in the shoulder.

Roxas spun to the ground, and slammed into it. Though he wasn't out for the count, he jumped towards the wall, running down the length, and spun into Riku; a flurry of keyblades spinning towards Riku.

Riku held up his blade defensively, but was overwhelmed by the attack, and flew back, crashing in and through the wall behind them.

Namine looked horrified: "Stop!" She shouted, but was ignored coldly.

Sora looked to Namine, "She said stop, you two!"

Riku looked over at Sora angrily: "I'm doing this for your own good, Sora! Be quiet!" Riku barrelled forward and back into the room, catching an unprepared Roxas by the throat and slamming him into the wall, before tossing him like a rag doll into the ceiling, then letting him drop to the ground.

Roxas coughed out blood weakly, groaning into the floor. "N-no… I need to protect… Sora… for what I've done to Kingdom… Hearts…" His eyes were growing dull and lifeless.

"Roxas…!" Axel cried out brokenly, his hand reaching toward his fellow Nobody.

Riku was about to send his blade into Roxas' back, though was stopped by the voice of Namine:

"STOP!" She screamed, a blindingly white light encompassing the room. Sora cried out, shielding his eyes, whereas Roxas simply shut his. Riku cringed, falling to his knees, he clutched his head.

The light faded away, and in the centre of the room stood DiZ.

Xigbar clutched his side as the dead eyes of Xemnas settled on him.

"You have failed, then?" Xemnas' low voice croaked.

"Afraid so, y-yeah…" Xigbar's eye narrowed in pain.

"So she has Sora, Roxas, Riku and Axel, then? This will surely ruin my Kingdom Hearts. Very well, then. As you were too incompetent, we will leave it to Saix, for now." Xemnas sighed, turning back to Kingdom Hearts. "Master Xehanort's heart will flow through us, and strengthen us soon enough, Braig. You needn't worry about your failure, for now." He slowly raised his arms towards the great heart shaped moon. "Soon…"

Xigbar grumbled, before turning back, and descending down through the Castle that Never Was, and towards Saix's personal study.

Glass stairs tapped under the footfalls of his boots. Dusks passed by Xigbar with little notice, and he smirked; they were little more than gnats to him. Though Xemnas' words troubled him…

"_Master Xehanort's heart will flow through us, andt much strengthen us…"_ The words echoed in his mind. What did that mean, exactly? Xemnas was the Nobody of Xehanort, Xigbar knew that, obviously. When he was still Braig, he worked with Even, Dilan, Xehanort and the others. Xemnas spoke of Xehanort's heart…

What would that help?

However, his musings were stopped as he approached the closed door to Saix's study.

Without knocking, he opened the door, and walked in; thanks to the natural healing powers of being Nobody, his previous injuries seemed rather minute and unimportant.

Saix sat in a stiff backed chair, a crimson covered book, his eyes remained focused on his book, and he spoke calmly: "You've failed, then? Neither Roxas nor Axel have returned. Must I do everything, Xigbar?"

"Real funny, Saix. They've got allies; Riku and Namine. Good luck with that; not to mention that DiZ's whereabouts are totally unknown." Xigbar smirked at Saix's veiled irritation.

Saix snapped his book closed with one hand: "Very well, then." He stood with a flourish of his cloak.

"Roxas." DiZ spoke slowly. "Perhaps I have misjudged you… My hunt for my wayward student and his atrocities have blinded me." He reached down to Roxas, helping him stand. With a soft glow of golden light, Roxas seemed rejuvenated and much stronger. "Though, excuses are not what we need at this point. My own strengths have waned with age, but you, Sora…" He turned, eyeing Sora closely. "You are the Key of Destiny… And you, Riku…" He turned once more, veiled eyes now focused on the shocked Ansem lookalike. "Yes, I knew, Riku. You are also able to wield the keyblade… But both of you together are not powerful enough to stop Xemnas, not even all of you could. Not yet, at least…"

"Then what's the point?" Axel said irritably.

"Things have gone awry. I know of your feelings, Sora, but such things cannot be… not yet, at least." DiZ looked from Sora to Roxas, his eyes oddly knowing.

"DiZ… what do you mean, 'things have gone awry'? What's gone wrong?" Roxas inquired, settling into a stance next to Sora, his stance still on guard.

"You see, Roxas, you were never meant to _meet_ Sora, let alone grow as close as you two have. You have inside of you part of Sora's heart, and another's. As you grow stronger, Sora grows weaker. Why do you think he was unable to fight back against Xigbar's assault?" DiZ said, followed by an uncomfortable silence.

Sora looked at Roxas worriedly, then DiZ. "Maybe that's true… but, isn't there something we can do? Roxas can't just… go, just because I'm being harmed. That's not fair." His voice was pained.

"Sora, don't be rash, he's a Nobody." Riku said quietly.

"He's not only a Nobody!" Sora shouted. Roxas looked over sharply, confusion on his light features. "He's my friend, if it was you in his situation, I'd be saying the same thing. No one's going to die for me!" Sora said desperately.

Riku looked away: "I'm sorry… But what can we do?"

"Yen Sid…" Axel said thoughtfully.

DiZ looked over at the Nobody: "What about him?"

"Maybe he can help. It's worth a shot. We can't set things right with Sora being weakened." Axel reasoned.

"Axel! That's genius!" Namine smiled brightly.

"I have my moments. Got it memorized?" Axel grinned, tapping his temple.

"Hm." DiZ said thoughtfully, "Perhaps… Axel, will you do the honors? I will meet with you once I have sealed off this Twilight Town."

Axel raised his arm into the air, a Nobody's portal to darkness opening before them. "Ladies first." He grinned at Namine, who chuckled, and strolled through.

Without a second thought, Riku paced through easily.

Roxas began to walk forward, but was stopped by Sora's hand on his forearm. "Are you sure, Roxas? That doesn't look too good…"

Roxas looked back at Sora, finding his worry oddly endearing, "Don't worry, Sora. I used these all the time in the Organization, it's how Nobodies get around without being tracked by our enemies. C'mon." He impulsively grabbed Sora's hand, and walked him through the portal.

Sora flushed from his nerves, but followed Roxas through the portal, and was surprised to find it rather harmless.

Within mere seconds, they stood before the Mysterious Tower.

Sora looked up at the familiar door, and finally gave it a firm push. The door groaned in protest, but eventually gave in.

"Cheery place." Axel said sarcastically.

Riku shrugging as he walked in. "You're a Nobody, cheer isn't your thing, is it, what with that black coat and all."

"Says the guy who looks like Xehanort but dresses like a Nobody." Axel grinned, clapping Riku on the back as he walked past him.

Roxas and Namine brought up the rear, still wary of the building before them. The two remained silent, watching Sora and Axel respectively, smirking slightly.

Inside the tower was a winding staircase that seemed unending. "Nice place. Maybe some lamps and it'd feel like home." Axel laughed further.

Roxas looked over at Namine, "He only says that because lamps sometimes involve fire…" He rolled his eyes, smiling wryly.

The five of them began to climb the stairs, falling into a comfortable silence. By the time the possible middle of the staircase was reached, Sora and Roxas headed up the front, Riku in the centre, and Axel and Namine at the back.

However, regardless of the strange, artificial tranquility the tower was exuding, a feeling of doubt filled Roxas' mind. When they finally did reach the summit of the stairs, two massive doors barred their passing. No handles adorned it, and nor could it be opened with a physical force.

"Clearly Yen Sid doesn't want just anyone barging in." Namine observed thoughtfully.

"Let me try…" Riku smirked, using the strength that Xehanort possessed and pushed with immense power at the doors. He grunted in effort, but the doors would not budge. "Hmph. Maybe a more magical method…" He pondered. Riku raised his right hand, forming a ball of darkness, and slammed it into the door. The door shuddered, but still did not open.

"My turn." Sora said confidently. The young keyblade wielder raised his keyblade, pointing at the doors, and closed his eyes in thought. After a few moments, he reopened his eyes, and from the tip of his keyblade shot a pure white beam of light. Once more, the door shuddered, but did not open.

"I have an idea…" Namine said thoughtfully, and stepped forward to the door. She placed her right hand on the space between the doors. The air hummed with magic, but the door still did not open.

Axel grinned: "What's wood's worst enemy than fire?" He chuckled, and summoned his chakrams. With a flick of his wrists, he sent them hovering into the air, alight with flames. He then sent his chakrams at the seam of the door with brutalizing force, and with an angered hiss of magic, his chakrams were sent flying back at Axel.

Roxas eyed the door, "maybe we're not looking at this right… It almost moves when each one of us does something to it… but what if we all tried… together?"

The other four stayed silent for a long moment, before Riku spoke up: "It couldn't hurt to try."

Roxas summoned Oblivion and Oathkeeper, pointing them at the doors. Sora summoned the keyblade, raised level with the seam of doors. Namine stepped forward, placing her hand back on the seam of the doors. Riku too summoned his weapon, and raised it to the doors. Finally, Axel had his chakrams begin to figure eights around the group of five.

"Three…" Axel spoke loudly.

"Two…!" Sora and Roxas' voice boomed in unison.

"One!" Namine and Riku shouted. In an instant the small stairwell was alight with a cacophony of magic; flames hammered the door, shadows assaulted its very essence, the light of Namine hummed through it, and the magic of the keyblades flew through the magical devices.

The five kept this up for a few minutes, when finally, with a great sigh of wood on wood, the doors slowly slid open.

Sora jumped back, letting his keyblade disappear, Roxas too slid back, desummoning his keyblades. Axel stood fast with Riku, both had their weapons still drawn, and Namine merely stood before them all quietly.

The room in front of them was lined with bookshelves; the room itself was ovular in nature, and in the centre was a large desk. Seated at the desk was a brooding looking old man. His beard seemed to flow on forever, and was as grey as the hair that fell from under a cone shaped wizard's hat. His eyebrows were bushy and thick, giving the impression of a very stern man. He did not look up when the five entered his personal quarters, nor did he even seem alarmed in the slightest.

His tone was quick and to the point, much like his visage suggested, "I see you are missing four members of your little troupe."

_And that's the end of chapter seven!_

_Chapter eight will be the last chapter, and as I said before, this story may have a sequel!_

_Though many questions still remained unanswered, such as; 'who is really behind all this chaos?'_

_Such answers may arrive in the next chapter!_

_As always, review, rate and comment!_


	8. Battle

_Huzzah, the final chapter is here!_

_Moving's a lot of work, and I got lazy and didn't write this chapter until now._

_Where we left off, Yen Sid was commenting on how our little group is short four people. But who are they? Will Sora and Roxas be able to discern who is truly toying with them in time?_

"Four members…?" Axel repeated, clearly confused.

"Indeed. You have with you; they Keyblade's Chosen One and his other, the Keyblade's inferno, the light's messenger, and Keyblade's shadow. However, you are missing a few. Sora. You carry one of your companions in your heart. Or should I say… Roxas, _you_ carry this missing compatriot." Yen Sid allowed himself to smirk, watching the confusion pass from person to person. "Of course, there are three others as well. However, their help will not be so easy to come by…"

"I understand, Yen Sid." Namine's soft voice sounded.

"I was sure you would." Yen Sid responded, tenting his fingers before him calmly.

"Wait, how does _she_ get it, but not us?" Axel grumbles.

"Because she is the light's messenger." Yen Sid interjects irritably.

"Namine, what must we do?" Riku asks the slight Nobody urgently.

"Castle Oblivion is outside of both the worlds and time… It's through there that we can travel back to where—and when, we need to go." Namine explains, her hands folded before her.

"Who are we recruiting?" Roxas inquires quizzically.

"Your predecessor Sora, Roxas." Namine responds, and breaths deeply: "Ventus. And his allies. The trinity of the keyblade."

"And the other person?" Sora blinks.

"C'mon Sora, you should know that one." Roxas chuckles. "Who else but your Kairi?"

"Kairi?" Sora and Riku exclaim, shocked.

"Well then. We had best split up to get all these guys." Riku says confidently.

Roxas nods, "Scary as it sounds, I agree, Riku. I think you and Sora should go get your childhood friend."

Riku smirks: "Right you are… for once."

The blonde rolls his eyes, "_Anyways_, Axel, you, Riku and I should go pick up this Ventus and his friends. And Namine can get us back after we're done, right?" Roxas turns to Namine.

She nods, "If everything goes right I should, yes."

"Alright. Now. Just one question: how do we get to Castle Oblivion?" Sora blinks.

"Oh leave that to me, Sora…" Axel grins wickedly, and flourishes a hand, a portal to darkness opening before them all.

"I hate those things." Sora grumbles.

"Aww, does _wittle Sora_ need me to hold his hand?" Roxas laughs, grabbing Sora's hand and dragging him through.

"W-wait!" Sora calls out, though his protests are cut off as he's dragged through the portal.

"Those two are _very_ strange…" Riku comments dryly.

"To think, they used to be the same person. Now just look at them, they're so different, but they complement each other so well." Namine says, a smile growing on her face.

"Bag of friggen miracles, that." Riku rolls his eyes, "Let's go."

Axel smirks, and walks through the portal, followed by Riku, and finally Namine.

However, before she's gone entirely, Yen Sid's stern voice sounds: "Don't get too attached, Namine. You know exactly what will happen…"

"I know…" She says sadly.

In short order, the group stood in one of the many stale, white rooms of Castle Oblivion. However, in this room, great scars marred the ground, and were accompanied by what appeared to be explosion marks.

"This is where you fought Marluxia, Sora." Namine explains. "It has the best connection to your past, because this is where I began to right the wrongs I made in your mind."

"Who… What wrongs?" Sora blinks, this was all terribly strange.

"Yeah… what exactly happened?" Roxas asks, puzzled as well.

"That story's best saved for another day, kids." Axel says, ushering them on.

"Sora. You'll be the catalyst to open a gateway to the Destiny Islands. Roxas, you'll be the catalyst to open a portal to the past." Namine begins to explain. "I'll stay here so that you guys have a way to get back, but you'll have to be quick; I can't keep these gateways open forever. Not to mention that they'll attract the Organization's attention."

"Got it." Axel nods firmly. "Shall we, then?"

"Let's get this done. For all our friends in all the worlds." Riku says with conviction.

"And all the friends we've lost." Roxas says; his voice pained as he remembers Xion.

Namine turns, raising her arms. Two auras of pure white light encompass Roxas and Sora.

Roxas looks around him as the sounds of his friends begins to become muffled and stifled. He looks over at Sora, worrying the brunette was also facing similar problems. However, once his eyes focused, where Sora stood was now Xion. She looked away from Roxas, and held her keyblade towards him. The light had faded too, and an eerie dim lighting replaced it.

"X-Xion?" He studdered, absolutely shocked to see her.

"Roxas…" Her voice was broken.

"Xion!" The blonde cried out, avoiding her keyblade, and lunging to save her from whatever ailed her.

However, the instant his hand settled on her shoulder, light blinded him, and he stood in a canyon. The walls of it were high and steep, and of a coppery colour.

He looked to his left and right, shouting desperately: "Xion!"

"Roxas…?" A familiar voice spoke from behind him.

Roxas spun around, seeing a concerned Axel staring down at him, along with an oddly worried Riku, who was his true self, and not Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.

"I saw Xion, Axel…" Roxas spoke brokenly, tears streaming from his deep blue eyes.

"Xion? But she's…" Axel trails off, and pulls Roxas close, hugging him close.

After a moment, Roxas calms down, and steps away. It's then when Riku speaks; "Roxas… For what it's worth… I'm sorry I helped what happened to Xion."

"I-It's okay, Riku… C'mon, let's go." Roxas sighed, he couldn't be angry at Riku, they all had their reasons. He took a deep breath, and began to walk down the canyon, almost by instinct.

"Do you know where you're going, Roxas?" Axel inquired curiously.

"I think so…" Roxas said, equally puzzled.

Riku remained at the back, walking on quietly. How could a Nobody cry? Feel such emotion? It was incredibly confusing, to say the least.

Instinct continued to drive the blonde forward, as if a great yearning suddenly had filled him, commanding him to find… whatever it was he was being lead to.

Hours past as they walked in the seemingly endless Keyblade graveyard. Every so often, as the wind howled, familiar voices would hang in the air. As if on queue, as Axel opened his mouth to question if this really _was_ the right way, the wind gusted sharply, and the calm voice of a boy whispered on it;

"You are all… familiar…"

Riku looked around sharply, eyes narrowed. Being one with the Darkness for so long, he was not trusting the voice to be as benign as it appeared to be.

The wind howled further, the anguished cry of a young woman, "Ventus!" Her voice was broken and miserable. Riku grunted as a deep agony crushed at his heart. He stumbled forward, "K-Kairi…?" He looked around, removing the black cloth from around his eyes.

Roxas stopped, turning and look to see the suddenly heartsick Riku. He rushed forward, and placed his hands on Riku's shoulders. "Don't get distracted, Riku. It's just memories…"

Riku looked up quizzically at the blonde who he had been so hostile to. Was Roxas truly so bad? He didn't know. DiZ had assured him that in order for Sora to come back, Roxas would have to be removed from the picture. But now… where they in the digital world, or was this real? He grumled angrily, all this was ridiculous! He had to protect his friends. He nodded confidently to Roxas, and stood to his full height, looking all the more determined to end this quest and return to his friends.

They began their march forward once more, their pace quickened. Axel was now at the back, and Riku in the centre. Roxas walked with determination in his stride, keyblades drawn for some unknown reason.

"So the Nobody seeks out the Predecessor? How… predictable." A smug, younger voice echoed from around them. This voice was nothing like the echoes on the wind, this was very much real, and very much malicious in nature.

"Show yourself, coward!" Riku demanded.

"I will save Ventus!" Roxas said firmly.

"C'mon, man. Quit being such a wuss and show yourself already." Axel grinned, summoning his chakrams.

"If you insist, _Lea_..." The voice said with an amused tone.

From before them in the haze appeared a young man in a black Organization coat. His hair was white, and skin tan.

"Xehanort." Axel growled angrily.

"That's impossible!" Riku said, shocked.

"This is the Keyblade Graveyard, Riku..." This supposed young Xehanort jeered. "Things that have been, things that are, and things that have yet to be roam here."

"From the past, then?" Roxas eyed him closely.

"Yes and no, Roxas." The young man said cryptically.

"Explain yourself!" Riku demanded, stepping forward and summoning his blade.

"I'd rather not… this isn't my fight… but you _will_ see me again… mark my words, _Lea_, _Riku_…"

Roxas looked to the two aforementioned people. He then looked down to his organization coat. This didn't belong him… when did it get there? He was wearing his street clothes in Twilight Town… "No, it is your fight, Young Xehanort, member of the New Organization XIII!" He grinned triumphantly, foreign knowledge flooding his mind. With a swift tug, he unzipped his black organization coat, and threw it to the wind. The coat flew off, leaving Roxas in a tight fitting grey muscle shirt, and his black pants and boots. He smirked, "I know your plan! You can't win against us! You can make us fight one another!"

Young Xehanort lurched back, before sneering, "We'll see about that, little imposter!"

Riku eyed Roxas in wonder… where did that strength of will come from? He was so much like Sora, but so much more driven… He too looked down to his Organization coat. This wasn't him. He wasn't Xehanort, he was… "I am Riku!" He shouted, "Not you, Xehanort! You **lose**!" He tore at the jacket, ripping it clear off his person, his normal clothes set underneath.

Axel grinned, "And I'm not your pawn, Xehanort. Not anymore." He snapped his fingers, his very person being engulfed in flames. When the flames died down, he was wearing his tight leather black pants, a black sleeveless shirt under a sleeveless, charred Organization coat. It flared out at the ends, and was licked with flames at the ends and on the collar, which now hung normally. His gloves were gone, and replaced by his actual skin.

Young Xehanort seemed distraught, this was _not_ his intent! "I _will _defeat you!" He challenged, before the wind picked up and blocked him from view.

"He's getting away!" Axel called out, rushing forward.

Riku held out his arm, "Let him run." He smirked. "Nothing more than a fake."

Roxas turned around, eyeing the two of them proudly. "Now. Now we can find them!" He turned sharply forward once more, and pointed Oathkeeper forward, "Light!" He shouted. A massive beam of pure light energy shot from the keyblade, decimating the storm before them.

Riku smirked, "Nice job, Roxas."

Roxas looked back, grinning. "I always do better when I think of the connection Sora and I have; like he's empowering me with his heart." His grin turns into a smile as he speaks.

Riku nods, and the three continue on their way.

Time drags on as the three march through the hole in the storm Roxas had made. However, as it seems as if there's no end, they enter a much different scene.

Green hills stretched on in the distance, and before them sat a perfectly vertically symmetrical castle; its wings stretched on out of sight, and its spires reached high into the sky. The three stood on a pavilion or training ground, of sorts. A dirt path lead off into the hills to the west, and to the north a paved path lead to the castle.

"What the? Who are you?" A familiar voice sounded from behind them.

Roxas was the first to turn, only to see a young man his age, and identical to him in every aspect but his clothing staring at him, utterly confused. On the young man's right was a strong looking teenager with brown hair and courageous eyes. To the boy's left was a gentle looking girl, though she held an inner strength that Roxas had never sensed before.

"Terra…" He looked to the tallest one with brown hair and that piercing gaze. Terra blinked, surprised that Roxas knew his name. "Aqua." He addresses the girl, who also looks confused. "And Ventus." He addresses the identical boy last.

However, their questions are interrupted as Axel stumbles backward. "N-no… It can't be… This is… Castl Oblivion!" He gawks at the castle before them.

Riku looks over sharply, "That's impossible!"

"Castle _what_? Who are you three, and why have we never seen you before?" Terra demands quickly.

Axel doesn't respond, he simply continues to gawk at the future Castle Oblivion.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Roxas, the one looking dumbfounded is Axel, and this is Riku." Roxas introduces them politely.

Ventus smiles a warm smile, "Nice to meet you! What brings you to the Land of Departure?"

"You three, actually." Riku says calmly.

"It's rather hard to explain. Do you have someplace we can sit and talk in private?" Roxas asks Ventus.

"Sure. You'll also have to explain how we're twins." Ventus grins.

"That's also a long story…" Roxas smirks at the lookalike.

Terra leaned back in his seat. "So you mean to tell me, Master Xehanort, that creepy old guy who was my master, means to destroy the worlds and have darkness reign eternal?"

Roxas nodded solemnly.

"That's a lot to believe, Roxas." Aqua says calmly.

"I'm aware, but—" Roxas is cut off as Ventus speaks.

"Terra, Aqua. We don't have a choice. We _have_ to help them." Ventus spoke firmly.

"Why's that, Ventus? Enlighten us." Terra said with a touch of frustration, something Riku understood all too well.

"Because it… it just is! Now, I'm going with them, with or without you two." He crossed his arms stubbornly.

Aqua chuckled, standing. She placed a hand on Ventus' shoulder, "Don't be silly, Ven. Of course we're coming with you."

Terra rolled his eyes and stood. Riku eyed Terra closely. "It's… good to see you again, Terra."

Axel smirked, "Don't confuse him, Riku. Let's ust go, hm?"

Riku nodded, "Right."

Namine looked to the swirling portal where Roxas, Riku and Axel had exited through. "They're done, alright then…" Her voice was shaky and weak. "S-Sora… please, hurry… I can't hold out much longer…" She looked to her legs; they were already fading away. She was losing strength.

Sora squinted against how bright the sun was. He stood on a sandy beach, the humid tropical weather warming him, and soothing him. He breathed out slowly, before he heard a familiar voice.

"Sora! You're back!" Slender arms embraced him tightly, and he instinctively hugged the girl back. Looking down, he saw none other than Kairi, who eyes brimmed with tears of happiness.

"Kairi! I've missed you so much…" He held her close, "But…"

"But?" She let go of him, looking up at him cautiously.

"But I need your help." He said, avoiding her curious gaze.

"My help?" Kairi blinked. Normally Sora did everything he could to keep her out of harm's way. "You name it, let's go."

"… So quickly? You don't even want to know what you're helping?" Sora chuckled heartily, "You haven't changed at all."

"Neither have you… 'cept your hair, it's more blonde, now. And I do know, Yen Sid told me." She smiled calmly as Sora's face twisted in confusion.

"We must do whatever we can to stop this." The first voice grumled, irritated.

"I am aware of this, but what _if_ we fail? What if we can't stop them all?" The second voice inquired pointedly.

"I will deal with that, you two. Now get ready, they'll be arriving soon, with any luck." The oldest and most withered of the three voices chuckled slowly.

The small room they had departed from was now filled with conversation. Kairi, Aqua, Namine, Terra, Riku, Axel, Ventus, Sora and Roxas talked with one another, getting to know one another and flesh out the plan.

"Alright everyone, shut up and let's get this straightened out!" Riku shouted. However, as he did, the whole castle shook and groaned.

Dust fell from the ceiling, and the walls cracked, the walls splitting away from each other.

The black void of the Darkness filled the room, and the nine of them armed themselves. Keyblades and light filled the room as three figures appeared in the now endless voice. On the left was Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. On the right was Xemnas, leader of Organization XII. Finally, in the centre was Master Xehanort.

"It seemed we arrived just in time." Xemnas smirked coldly.

"Xemnas!" Sora shouted angrily.

"You won't get away with what you've done, any of you!" Terra shouted boldly. "Riku, Sora, Kairi! Attack Ansem! Aqua, you, I and Ventus will fight Master Xehanort. Axel, you and Roxas fight Xemnas. Namine, you know what to do." The eight acknowledged the orders, and charged swiftly.

Sora and Riku hooked keyblades and spun, sending balls of light flying at Ansem. However, Ansem seemed to have expected this, and dodged them with inhuman speed. When they would strike him, his dark guardian would shield him.

Roxas and Axel used their traditional scheme; Axel stayed farther back and acted as ranged suppression fire with his chakrams, while Roxas attacked head on.

Xemnas laughed, "I trained you both. This is pointless!" With a flick of his wrist, azure flames shot forth and through Axel and Roxas down. The two groaned, and struggled to their feet.

Terra and Ventus were already deep in combat, swinging quickly at Xehanort. However, the old man was not weak; he parried and dodged with ease, throwing spells every which way. However, he sent a shadow bolt into the air, which seemed to have no target.

"Getting rusty, Xehanort?" Ventus jeered, smirking triumphantly.

"Not exactly, Ventus." Master Xehanort's dead eyes locked on to his.

A scream was heard from behind the two as a charging Aqua was struck with the dark powers that Xehanort had conjured.

The nine of them layed or kneeled far back, breathing heavily. Roxas struggled to his feet, "It's no use… Xemnas knows how we fight…"

Sora nodded, "Ansem knows exactly how to counteract Riku and I."

"And Xehanort taught me, so he knows how to pull us apart…" Terra said dejectedly.

From behind them, the weak voice of Namine sounded, "E-everyone… your enemies… are not who you fight… think differently…"

They all looked to the small Nobody; her body was all but transparent, the light waving off her in waves to heal her allies.

"Namine!" Sora and Roxas shouted in unison.

"It's okay… this is my destiny… You know what to do…" She whispered quietly.

They nodded, Roxas looking away quickly, the sight too painful and too close to losing Xion.

Sora looked to Roxas, and even in the heat of battle, placed his hand over the blonde's hand, holding it comfortingly.

"Roxas. Let's go after Xehanort. He'll never see it coming…"

Roxas blinked, then grinned, and nodded. "Right. Namine. Thank you for everything."

"Goodbye everyone…" With that, what was left of Namine burst into a showering of the light.

Riku looked to where she once stood, eyes wide with shock.

Ventus fell forward, tears streaming from his eyes. Terra and Aqua quickly went to his side, comforting the emotionally vulnerable Ventus.

Kairi lowered her head, her bangs covering her eyes as Axel wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.

"Pathetic. She was a Nobody, next to nothing…" Xehanort snorted derisively.

"Maybe she was…" Kairi said, causing her allies to look at her, shocked. "And maybe she wasn't. But you're about to be nothing in a moment! Sora! Roxas!" She shouted triumphantly, summoning a keyblade of her own. The two others nodded, and stood quickly, charging furiously at the unprepared Xehanort.

Oblivion struck through Xehanort's kidney, whereas Oathkeeper tore through his right leg. Sora's keyblade threw him to the ground, and Kairi's keyblade was held in his heart. "You monster…" She said, tears streaming from her eyes…

No blood fell from the man, no wounds were even evident. Xehanort smirked, before dissintergrating into a shadowy mist which joined the Darkness around them.

Roxas, Sora, and Kairi fell forward in unison, suddenly too exhausted to move. "I guess he had… one more trick up his sleeve…" Roxas said weakly. Kairi nodded, "Guess so…" Sora smiled, "At least… we got him…" The other two looked to him, "Yeah."

Kairi looked at Roxas, then Sora. "You two… I know, it's okay… I understand and will always be with you both…. But I need to go back…to the Island… Will you meet me there?" She looked over to the other four, "You all as well…?"

Ventus rubbed at his eyes, nodding firmly, "I'll see you soon, Kairi."

Terra smiled confidently, "Count on it."

Aqua smiled sweetly, "Of course, Kairi."

"You bet'cha." Axel grinned wryly.

"I can't wait…"She closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep, before a shining white portal opened below her, and she was gently descended into it.

Meanwhile, Terra and Riku were already preparing to take Xemnas down. Riku called on the shadows around them, temporarily blinding Xemnas, who called out in rage and frustration.

With one swift motion, Terra lunged at Xemnas, slicing through his midsection.

Xemnas stumbled back, "This… isn't… over…" Before disappearing as well.

Ansem smirked. "You think they matter to me? One is my imperfect other, and the other is my failure of a predecessor. I am Ansem, Seeker of Darkness!" With that, his form exploded violently, his dark guardian launching itself at Terra, sweeping him clear off his feet and launching him into Aqua and Ventus, who were all sent through another portal, shouting in protest.

"Stay where you belong, in the past!" Ansem, Seeker of Darkness' voice echoed.

Axel released his chakrams, which smashed into the sides of the shadow that was now Ansem, and shattered upon impact.

He too was thrown down, next to Roxas, Sora and Riku.

"Wretched keyblade wielders…" Ansem's voice grumbled.

The four looked to each other, nodding wearily, before shouting in unison:

"**Light!**"

The shadow world erupted in the light of the Realm of Light, blinding all those remaining.

"No! I will not be defeated, not again!" The Seeker of Darkness roared in maddened fury.

His shadows struck hard at Roxas, who screamed out in unbearable agony.

Oblivion shattered in his hand with a horrendous grating sound.

Oathkeeper, however, was sent flying into Axel, who took the keyblade straight to the chest. His eyes went wide as the keyblade impaled him.

"Roxas! Axel!" Sora shouted in horror.

Roxas layed very still, whereas Axel looked over, "I-It's okay, Sora… we'll be back… I'll… look after him while we're gone… okay?"

Sora's eyes filled with tears, "T-thank you, Axel…!" He instinctively hugged the dying redhead close.

Riku stumbled over to the still form of Roxas, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Roxas… For Sora's sake… please, wake up…" He begged quietly.

Roxas' eyes opened, the normal deep ocean hue now weak and glassy, "T-thank you, Riku… We'll fight together again, hm? For now… Protect Kairi… She needs her knight back…"

Riku blinked, "Her knight?"

"Yes, her knight…" Roxas smiled faintly.

Riku nodded earnestly, "Thank you, Roxas. I won't forget you or what you've done."

With that, the Realm of Light accepted Riku back to his homeworld.

Axel's form, too, began to de-materialize. His body began to fade into shadows, "In the Realm of Darkness… Sora…"

Sora nodded. "I'll be there."

Axel smiled weakly, "Good… He's a real handful, ya know…"

With that, the redhead was gone, leaving the dying Roxas and Sora, all alone.

Sora crawled over, his eyes blurry and sore from the tears streaming from his eyes. He collapsed onto Roxas, crying deeply, "Roxas…! Please, don't go! I need you with me!"

Roxas attempted to hug the brunette, though could only rest his arms on Sora's back. "Sora… I… love… you…"

Sora looked up at Roxas' dull eyes, shocked, and at the same time, filled with joy _and _sorrow. "I love you too, Roxas… Please, don't leave, I can't be without you…!" He pleaded.

"I'll… be back soon enough, Sora…" he rested his head back, before looking up, seeing Sora continuing to sob, heartbroken, on him. With his remaining strength, Roxas pulled Sora in close, hugging him as tight as he could.

And with a fleeting kiss, Roxas too, disappeared to the Realm of Darkness.

_An epilogue mayhap?_

_Who knows? We'll have to see. But that was so sad! And lengthy._

_Review and comment, I've had a lot of fun writing this, and to be quite honest, I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, so gimmie your thoughts!_


	9. Epilogue and Prologue

_An epilogue!_

_When we last left off, our protagonists were separated; Roxas, Axel, and Namine sent to the realm of Darkness. The trio consisting of Ventus, Tera and Aqua were returned, against their own will, to their own timeline, and Sora, Riku and Kairi were marooned on the Destiny Islands. Now for some closure… among other things! This epilogue will also be written in the style that its possible successor will be written in._

**World: Unknown**

The throne room was filled with noblemen and women, knights, magisters, and all of the best quality of sorts, in the eyes of those who were to discern such frivolous things. On the walls of the throne room were massive white marble pillars, and from the ceiling hung a gallant chandelier. The only part of the floor visible was the red carpet draped perfectly from the main doors, to the side entrances, a fair distance from the thrones.

The most important officials sat in nervous silence as they awaited the blaring of trumpets to announce the arrival of the most important figures on their worlds. A single man stifled a cough, prompting a slew of dark looks in his general direction. However, their unfounded irritation was interrupted by the high and crisp tones of trumpets sounding in the silence. A magnificent tone played, both cheerful and powerful, sorrowful and kind. The great alabaster doors that acted as the primary entrance to the throne room slowly began to silently open, and all officials in the massive room stood, and as if on queue, turned on their right heel, and saluted crisply. Military men or otherwise, these upper class men and women knew when to give their respects. A troupe of guards marched in; their armour was a glorious gold that shone brightly from the sun shining in from the windows lining the wall where the thrones sat. In the centre of the six lines of guards were them; the king and his family, they who ruled their world, among others.

The guards and royals marched along silently before the guards took their stances before the front rows of noblemen.

A singular voice rang out as the royal and noble sat in order, respectively.

"Presenting his majesty, the Sovereign Ruler of our beloved empire, King Varus Del Varanstus! Accompanying him is his first consort, our benevolent queen, Queen Magista Li Varantus, along with the sixth, seventh, and eighth princes!" Ten thrones, all in a vanguard facing the royal audience were in place, however only five were filled at this time. The noblemen and women roared into applause as their royals were announced, however they were brought to an uncomfortable standstill as the King stood.

"My subjects, I have gathered you here to discuss the great enemy of our kingdom, the false power that is… Kingdom Hearts, and all those who wield its corrupt power!" Varus' voice was powerful and stern, and his eyes shone with determination and strength of will. "On this day, I call for an end to its cruel and unjust domination of our realm, and destroy to allow the freedom that my people deserve!"

His sons applauded, smiling gallantly. All were handsome men, clearly around the age of manhood. They all wore the same face, but different expressions. The Sixth prince's hair was a beautiful light blonde, and his eyes were lit with the love of he had for his future subjects. He wore a green cloak with a collar that reached up to the sides of his ears, and fine, noble clothing in cream and black colours. His other triplet brothers, firstly the seventh prince had hair of a deep, healthy brown. His skinned was more tanned, indicating his enjoyment of spending time outdoors. He wore a royal blue cloak, much akin to his brothers, and perfect white noble clothes and knee high boots to match. The seventh prince's smile was genuine and heartwarming, he had always had a knack for wooing the commonfolk. Finally, the eighth prince too had blonde hair, however he wore a white cloak and red clothes.

The seveth prince stood with his father, "Thank you father, for your grand and true words! It is time those who have stolen our family's weapons and used them against our lost loved ones be put to justice! On the eve of next year, we will march upon the door to destiny, and free ourselves from their reign of terror!"

Sora slowly awoke to the all too familiar sound of waves crashing against the soft sand of the beach. If he didn't hurry, he'd be late for school!

"Man, this is all so boring in comparison to being a keyblade wielder…" He mumbled as he slipped out of bed, eyeing his school uniform which hung on a hanger off the doorknob. With much resistance from his sleepy-yearning body, the brunette groaned as his head received a crushing headache as he did every morning. And like before, it was accompanied with a vision; a young man, his age and exactly of his likeness stood next to a stern looking, regal dressed man, proclaiming… what was he saying? Sora could simply not figure it out, he was good at discerning people's meanings, but this lookalike was simply a mystery to him!

"That's new…" He said to himself, standing there in the now uncomfortable silence, "It's always been the same scene… maybe it has something to do with…?" He trailed off, his mind flashing back to crying hoarsely on the dying body of the person he had loved the most, his Nobody, Roxas.

_Sora crawled over, his eyes blurry and sore from the tears streaming from his eyes. He collapsed onto Roxas, crying deeply, "Roxas…! Please, don't go! I need you with me!" _

_Roxas attempted to hug the brunette, though could only rest his arms on Sora's back. "Sora… I… love… you…" _

_Sora looked up at Roxas' dull eyes, shocked, and at the same time, filled with joy and sorrow. "I love you too, Roxas… Please, don't leave, I can't be without you…!" He pleaded._

"_I'll… be back soon enough, Sora…" he rested his head back, before looking up, seeing Sora continuing to sob, heartbroken, on him. With his remaining strength, Roxas pulled Sora in close, hugging him as tight as he could. _

_And with a fleeting kiss, Roxas too, disappeared to the Realm of Darkness._

Sora's heart caught in his throat as he remembered that heartbreaking loss. It had been four years, and all was normal, but the aching nothingness in his heart had done nothing but grown, if anything, from the time Roxas had gone to the Realm of Darkness. Sure, the brunette had tried an innumeral of ways of contacting the other worlds, but his magic wouldn't work, and the keyblade would _not_ come to him, no matter how much he needed! Of course, Riku and Kairi believed him, heck, they were there! But as the years went on and Sora's need for Roxas didn't fade, they too became wary and distant for their friend who could apparently not move on.

A feminine, kind voice called from outside his door, "Sora, honey! Get cleaned up and ready for school, or you won't have time for breakfast! "Sora looked up, clenching his hands into fists at his side, and forced a cheerful voice. He had told his mother about his adventures, and part of her did believe him, just didn't want to believe her son could ever be in such danger. Nowadays it was simpler to act as if he had adjusted to his once more normal life.

"Yeah mom, I'll be right down!" He called out chipperly and walked to his door, turning the knob and opening the piece of solid wood. However, instead of seeing the hallway leading to his mother's room, he saw a palatial room, which he had to admit, looked like some messy teen's room than a room fit for royalty like King Mickey, or Alladin's beloved. At the doorway stood… himself, but gain in those regal clothes and cape. The young man had a sad look on his face, as if he too was missing someone dear to him in his life. Dark bags hung under his eyes, and to Sora's shock, at his side, clipped to his belt, was a keyblade!

Sora shook his head in disbelief, he had seen some crazy stuff in his travels, but this was beyond reasoning! But by the time his eyes had refocused, the other room and twin of himself was gone, leaving the beige walls and walnut flooring in their wake. Sora peered out the doorway cautiously, as if expecting something nefarious to attack, though to his expectations; nothing was there, just the blandness that was his house, and his life. His typical, normal, unnecessary life.

He stepped out of his room, resigning to the idea that he was batshit crazy, and paced to the door to the washroom. The sound of his bare footed footfalls below him calmed him somewhat; at least he still knew he had done something important, and still hadn't given up on Roxas.

After showering, getting his school uniform on, and eating breakfast, Sora stepped out the door and into the already hot daylight that the Destiny Islands perpetually had. He ignored the beautiful day around him, and even his neighbour wishing him to have a good day at school. All he felt was confused, and Sora didn't like to be confused, it made him feel stupid. Riku made him look stupid enough of at school, and he didn't need his crazy mind doing the same!

However, as he began walking down the street to the school, which was still quite a ways away, a voice spoke behind him, "Keyblade wielder, we need to talk." Sora spun around, tossing his backpack to the ground and taking a defensive stance. However, his instincts soon faltered as he saw the person before him…

It was… Roxas! Except… he whore those regal clothes, though his were a bright red, and a white cloak adorned his slim person. _Roxas_, or whoever this was, seemed equally shocked. The young man seemed just as confused as Sora was, his eyes opened wide and he stumbled forward, a look of hope on his face, "B-brother?" He said, his voice cracking from some unknown pain.

_And that's where I'll leave things off!_

_If you're wondering what that's all about, the sequel will detail the Realm of Darkness' true nature, and what part Roxas, Sora, and Ventus have to play in it. _

_It may even answer some questions, such as; will Sora and Roxas ever be reunited? _

_Well to be fair, in a since, they just were, but then again, not!_

_As always, review and comment!_


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